Mahmoud Khalil Files Lawsuit Against Trump Administration and Pro‑Israel Groups Over Alleged Coordinated Harassment

Mahmoud Khalil filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Trump administration officials and several pro‑Israel organizations, accusing them of conspiring to target him and others in retaliation for their advocacy of Palestinian rights.

The former Columbia University graduate student emerged as a prominent symbol of the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro‑Palestinian expression after his detention last year. As a permanent U.S. resident, Khalil is also challenging the government’s attempt to remove him from the country.

The lawsuit, brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights on Khalil’s behalf, contends that the Trump administration worked with Betar and Canary Mission — two pro‑Israel monitoring groups — to compile a list of “targets” for the alleged conspiracy.

“This case involves far more than my personal experience,” Khalil stated at a press conference on Tuesday. “It reflects a coordinated effort to punish, silence, and intimidate anyone who speaks out in support of Palestinian liberation.”

“We aim to expose the network of organizations, political actors, and institutions that seek to criminalize solidarity with Palestine and to make an example of those who refuse to stay silent,” he added.

Betar US openly claimed responsibility for Khalil’s arrest, and The Guardian reported last year that the group asserted it had provided “thousands of names” to the administration for similar actions. Additional details about the administration’s reliance on these groups surfaced during a trial concerning the government’s campaign against pro‑Palestinian scholars.

Khalil’s lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, names several senior Trump officials — including White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — as defendants, along with the Heritage Foundation, Canary Mission, and Betar.

The complaint alleges that the Heritage Foundation and two of its leaders devised “Project Esther,” which the lawsuit describes as “the blueprint” for a “public‑private partnership” intended to counter the growing movement for Palestinian rights.

According to the complaint, government officials collaborated “hand‑in‑hand” with these groups to deprive targeted individuals of their fundamental rights and to convey a chilling message that Palestinians and their supporters would face state repression solely because of their identity and constitutionally protected political views.

Project Esther, the lawsuit claims, “was a document outlining a plan to identify and target pro‑Palestinian, non‑citizen students and scholars, who would then be arrested and deported by the federal defendants involved in the conspiracy.”

The case is being pursued under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, a statute originally enacted to combat violent vigilantism by the KKK.

The Heritage Foundation, Canary Mission, and Betar US did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A White House spokesperson said in a statement that “Khalil obtained his visa by deliberately and misleadingly omitting material information about his background. Those who lie to the government to gain entry into the United States will be held accountable.”

Federal immigration authorities detained Khalil, a native of Syria born to Palestinian parents, in March 2025 for his advocacy on behalf of Palestinian rights. He was placed in an ICE detention facility in Louisiana, where he was held for 104 days, missing the birth of his child, and he is married to a U.S. citizen.

The Trump administration initially argued that Khalil’s continued presence could threaten U.S. foreign policy, with Rubio asserting that his stay would have “adverse foreign policy consequences.”

Later, federal officials alleged that Khalil “misrepresented” information on his green‑card application — a claim his attorneys vigorously dispute.

Khalil’s detention sparked widespread condemnation from civil‑liberty and free‑speech organizations, and several high‑profile figures voiced support. Speakers at the Tuesday press conference included actors Cynthia Nixon and Morgan Spector.

Although Khalil was released from immigration detention in June, the government continues to pursue his deportation. Earlier this year, a federal appeals court dealt a setback to his case by ruling that it must be heard in immigration court.

Khalil’s legal team has indicated they will petition the Supreme Court for intervention.

In a separate trial last year examining the Trump administration’s policy toward pro‑Palestinian students and scholars, revelations disclosed how Canary Mission and Betar US compiled “deportation lists” that were forwarded to U.S. officials.

Peter Hatch, a senior ICE Homeland Security Investigations official, testified that the agency formed a dedicated team to investigate student protesters and produced over 100 reports based on a list of 5,000 individuals identified on the Canary Mission website.

“The instruction was to examine the website,” Hatch said. “We were to focus on the individuals named in the Canary Mission site.”

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