Mahmoud Khalil, the former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist who was detained for months as the federal government sought to deport him, sued Trump administration officials and others on Tuesday, alleging a conspiracy to persecute.
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The case, filed in federal court in New York, has been brought under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 and claims that top administration officials conspired with private organizations such as the conservative Heritage Foundation to terrorize and make an example of Khalil and other noncitizens to intimidate and weaken the pro-Palestinian movement.
The case names Secretary of State Marco Rubio, senior presidential adviser Stephen Miller, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, acting attorney general Todd Blanche, former secretary of homeland security Kristi L. Noem, and John Armstrong at the State Department. Khalil also sued the Heritage Foundation as well as Canary Mission and Betar — which describe themselves as defenders of Israel — and their leaders.
Abigail Jackson, a spokeswoman for the White House, said, “As we have always maintained, the Executive Branch has the lawful authority to take actions that will protect the public and to ensure the integrity of our immigration system.”
Spokespeople for the Heritage Foundation, Canary Mission and Betar did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
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“They built an entire apparatus,” Khalil said at a news conference Tuesday, “ … to surveil, blacklist and destroy anyone who tells the truth about Palestine.”
Khalil continues to fight the government’s efforts to deport him in federal and immigration court.
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