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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Mahmoud Khalil Sues US
Government over \u2018Collusion\u2019 with Doxxing Groups</h1>
November 21, 2025</div>
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<img
src="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Khalil_Released_video.png"
alt="" title="Khalil_Released_video" width="408"
height="274" style="margin-right: 25px;"
moz-do-not-send="true"> <br>
<font size="1">Columbia University graduate Mahmoud
Khalil was released from US immigration detention.
(Photo: video grab)</font>
<p><strong>By <a
href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff"
title="Display all articles for Palestine Chronicle Staff"
moz-do-not-send="true">Palestine Chronicle Staff</a></strong>
</p>
<blockquote>
<h3>\u201cFor months, shady organizations and individuals
carried out a smear and harassment campaign designed
to intimidate and silence me.\u201d Mahmoud Khalil</h3>
</blockquote>
<p>Pro-Palestine activist Mahmoud Khalil has filed a
lawsuit seeking to compel the Trump administration to
release its communications with anti-Palestinian
organizations and individuals in the run-up to his
arrest by US immigration authorities in March this
year.</p>
<p>\u201cThese organizations have claimed credit for his
arrest, and evidence, including<a
href="https://knightcolumbia.org/content/dhs-tiger-team-scrutinizing-student-protesters-was-told-to-investigate-5000-names-listed-by-canary-mission-ice-official-testifies"
moz-do-not-send="true"> testimony</a> from an ICE
official, indicates that the administration acted on
information \u2013 and misinformation \u2013 provided by these
groups in cracking down on Mr. Khalil and other
Palestine solidarity activists,\u201d the Center for
Constitutional Rights (CCR), which is part of Khalil\u2019s
legal team, <a
href="https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/mahmoud-khalil-sues-trump-administration-info-its-collusion-anti"
moz-do-not-send="true">said</a> in a press statement
on Thursday.</p>
<blockquote>
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">\u201cThe public deserves full
accountability for every bad actor who helped make
that possible, including those at Columbia who
fabricated and amplified these smears and opened the
door for state retaliation against Palestinian
speech.\u201d</p>
<p>\u2014 Mahmoud Khalil via <a
href="https://twitter.com/zeteo_news?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
moz-do-not-send="true">@zeteo_news</a>\u2026</p>
<p>\u2014 The CCR is on bsky (@<a
href="http://ccrjustice.org"
moz-do-not-send="true">ccrjustice.org</a>)
(@theCCR) <a
href="https://twitter.com/theCCR/status/1991593039954149836?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
moz-do-not-send="true">November 20, 2025</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Khalil is one of at least nine people targeted by US
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shortly
after being doxxed and harassed by the network of
pro-Israel propaganda websites and groups, the
statement added.</p>
<p>\u201cFor months, shady organizations and individuals
carried out a smear and harassment campaign designed
to intimidate and silence me,\u201d Khalil stated. \u201cThe
public deserves full accountability for every bad
actor who helped make that possible, including those
at Columbia who fabricated and amplified these smears
and opened the door for state retaliation against
Palestinian speech.\u201d</p>
<h4>Freedom of Information Act</h4>
<p>Khalil\u2019s lawsuit \u201cseeks to shed light on the
relationship between the Trump administration and the
shadowy organizations known for their unfounded
allegations of terrorist ties and anti-semitism,\u201d the
organization said.</p>
<p>It noted that the lawsuit follows the
administration\u2019s failure to comply with the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) <a
href="https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/mahmoud-khalil-demands-info-trump-administration-collusion-anti"
moz-do-not-send="true">request </a> which Khalil
submitted in May.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a
href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/mahmoud-khalil-freed-after-months-in-ice-detention-over-pro-palestine-activism/"
moz-do-not-send="true">Mahmoud Khalil Freed after
Months in ICE Detention over Pro-Palestine
Activism</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Center explained that in the interim \u2013 during a
trial that led a federal judge to conclude that the
Trump administration had engaged in an
unconstitutional policy of \u201cideological deportation\u201d \u2013
an ICE official testified that the agency reviewed
more than 5,000 names supplied by Canary Mission, an
anonymous, obscurely funded doxxing organization.</p>
<p>\u201cMr. Khalil\u2019s was among them,\u201d it stated, emphasizing
\u201cThe testimony built on existing evidence of
collusion.\u201d</p>
<h4>Targeted, Doxxed</h4>
<p>The organization said that several weeks before
Khalil\u2019s arrest, Betar USA \u2013 an affiliate of Betar,
which it called \u201can openly racist ultrazionist
movement\u201d included him on its \u201cdeport list\u201d and posted
on X that ICE was \u201caware of his home address and
whereabouts.\u201d</p>
<p>Betar said it had shared information with
administration officials, including Secretary of State
Rubio, the statement noted. On March 7, the day before
Khalil\u2019s arrest, Documenting Jew Hatred on Campus
called for his deportation in a post on X and tagged
Secretary of State Marco Rubio. On March 6, Shai
Davidai, a Columbia professor and advisory board
member of Documenting Jew Hatred, had done the same,
the statement added.</p>
<blockquote>
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Congratulations to Mahmoud
Khalil on receiving the Champion of Justice award.
Detained by ICE in a crackdown on anti-genocide
advocacy, Mahmoud has endured unjust imprisonment
with courage and dignity. His unwavering commitment
to justice and free expression stands as a
testament\u2026 <a href="https://t.co/IhpFm89Cjw"
moz-do-not-send="true">pic.twitter.com/IhpFm89Cjw</a></p>
<p>\u2014 CAIR National (@CAIRNational) <a
href="https://twitter.com/CAIRNational/status/1969620358580801547?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
moz-do-not-send="true">September 21, 2025</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>\u201cMr. Khalil and the public at large have the right to
know about the depth of the collusion between the
federal government and the shadowy groups targeting
people who speak out against a genocide,\u201d Adina
Marx-Arpadi, an attorney and Justice Fellow at the
Center for Constitutional Rights <a
href="https://ccrjustice.org/home/who-we-are/staff/marx-arpadi-adina"
moz-do-not-send="true">said</a>.</p>
<p>The statement highlighted that others targeted first
\u201cby the anti-Palestinian groups and then by the
administration\u201d are Mohsen Mahdawi (Columbia
University), Rümeysa Öztürk (Tufts University),
Momodou Taal (Cornell University), Dr. Badar Khan Suri
(Georgetown University), Efe Ercelik (University of
Massachusetts Amherst), Ranajani Srinivasan (Columbia
University), Leqaa Kordia (Columbia University), and
Yunseo Chung (Columbia University).</p>
<h4>All Records of Communications Sought</h4>
<p>Khalil seeks all records of communications between
ICE, the DOJ, the DOS, and DHS and Canary Mission,
Betar, Documenting Jew Hatred On Campus, Columbia
Alumni for Israel, Middle East Forum, Shirion
Collective, Capital Research Center, and CAMERA, the
organization stated.</p>
<p>He also seeks \u201cany communications between the
agencies and individuals reported to have targeted,
doxxed, and called for or sought to facilitate the
deportation of Mr. Khalil and other pro-Palestinian
students.\u201d</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a
href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/silencing-dissent-the-new-mccarthyism-cannot-prevail/"
moz-do-not-send="true">Silencing Dissent: The New
McCarthyism Cannot Prevail</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Center for Constitutional Rights, which filed the
original FOIA request as well as the latest suit, is
part of the legal team representing Khalil in his case
challenging the constitutionality of his arrest and
detention.</p>
<p>Born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, Khalil
is a legal permanent resident of the US. He was
released in June from an ICE detention facility after
being held for more than 100 days.</p>
<p>The Colombia University graduate, who played a
leading role in student protests against Israel\u2019s
genocidal assault on Gaza, continues to battle the
Trump\u2019s administration\u2019s effort to deport him, which a
federal judge has called \u201clikely unconstitutional\u201d,
according to the Center for Constitutional Rights.</p>
<h4>$20M Claim in Damages</h4>
<p>In July, Khalil filed a claim for $20 million in
damages for the harm he suffered as a result of his
\u201cpolitically motivated arrest and detention.\u201d</p>
<p>Directed at the State Department, the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE, the claim \u201ccites a
range of abuses, including malicious prosecution and
abuse of process, false arrest, false imprisonment,
and negligent and intentional infliction of emotional
distress,\u201d the Center for Constitutional Rights said.</p>
<blockquote>
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">\u201cI was shocked by the
dehumanization of Palestinians in this country.\u201d</p>
<p>Mahmoud Khalil speaks to <a
href="https://twitter.com/simonerzim?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
moz-do-not-send="true">@simonerzim</a> about
witnessing the Columbia University, Biden, and Trump
administrations dehumanize Palestinian existence
here in the US. <a href="https://t.co/RMEWxgKBb6"
moz-do-not-send="true">pic.twitter.com/RMEWxgKBb6</a></p>
<p>\u2014 Zeteo (@zeteo_news) <a
href="https://twitter.com/zeteo_news/status/1990803721165680948?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
moz-do-not-send="true">November 18, 2025</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The claim, it noted, was a precursor to a federal
lawsuit against the Trump administration, which he
will bring under the Federal Tort Claims Act, a 1946
federal statute that allows individuals to sue the
U.S. government for damages for civil law violations.</p>
<p>\u201cMr. Khalil is seeking $20 million, which he would
use to help others similarly targeted by the Trump
administration and Columbia University. He would
accept, in lieu of payment, an official apology and
abandonment of the administration\u2019s unconstitutional
policy,\u201d the organization said.</p>
<p><em>(The Palestine Chronicle)</em></p>
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