Mahmoud Khalil Sues Senior Trump Officials Under the KKK Act

Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained for helping lead pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University and still faces deportation threats, is suing the Trump administration under the KKK Act of 1871. 

Khalil filed the lawsuit against senior administration officials in addition to right-wing Zionist organizations in federal court Tuesday, alleging that the administration conspired with these groups in a campaign of intimidation, arrests, and deportations against pro-Palestine activists, including himself. 

The 131-page lawsuit names multiple administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, and Mullin’s predecessor, Kristi Noem. It also names the Heritage Foundation, Canary Mission, and Betar, among other right-wing and Zionist groups. 

“Collectively, the conspirators’ actions, motivated by their shared unlawful purpose and animus, sought to terrorize and make an example of Mr. Khalil and other noncitizen Palestinians or supporters of Palestinians in order to intimidate and silence the growing movement for Palestinian rights and political freedom, in a manner the KKK Act was designed to proscribe when enacted during Reconstruction,” the lawsuit states. 

Last year, Khalil filed a Freedom of Information Act request with multiple federal agencies to “document and expose the reported collaboration between federal officials and private, anti-Palestinian organizations who have identified, doxxed, and reported him and others for purposes of securing the deportation of student activists advocating on behalf of Palestinian human rights.”

Khalil’s attorneys alleged at the time that his March 2025 arrest and the threat of his deportation, as well as that of other pro-Palestine activists, was part of a pattern of government officials working with far-right and pro-Israel organizations to target them. The Revisionist Zionist organization Betar was openly recommending foreign students and teachers who protested against Israel for deportation to the Trump administration as early as January 2025, and would take credit if one of the people they recommended was arrested. 

Last year, a separate trial revealed that the pro-Israel Canary Mission, which anonymously doxxes critics of Israel online, handed Department of Homeland Security officials a list of foreign citizens in the U.S. who attended pro-Palestine protests. In some cases, the federal government followed up and arrested some of those people. The Heritage Foundation was named in the lawsuit because of Project Esther, an addendum to its Project 2025 manifesto, which outlined plans to target pro-Palestine noncitizens for deportation.  

Khalil, 31, is married to a U.S. citizen and is a legal U.S. permanent resident. He was arrested at his New York apartment in March 2025, spent 100 days in federal detention, missed the birth of his first child, and continues to be threatened with deportation. At a press conference Tuesday, he said, “This lawsuit is about accountability and justice.” 

“No matter where I am, I will not stop fighting until everyone who willingly contributed to my missing the birth of my son and to taking 104 days of my life from me answers for what they’ve done,” Khalil said. 
Khalil: “I will not stop fighting until everyone who willingly contributed to my missing the birth of my son and to taking 104 days of my life from me answers for what they’ve done.” pic.twitter.com/x6iTgoxsXa
— Erik Uebelacker (@Uebey) July 14, 2026 ...