Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student and permanent US resident, filed a lawsuit Tuesday accusing Trump administration officials and pro-Israel surveillance organizations of orchestrating a conspiracy to punish him and others for supporting Palestinian rights.
The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court by the Center for Constitutional Rights, names 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 US.
Khalil became a central figure in the administration's crackdown on pro-Palestine speech after his arrest last March. Federal immigration authorities detained him for 104 days in a Louisiana ICE facility, during which his child was born. He remains a permanent resident fighting deportation proceedings.
The complaint alleges that government defendants worked "hand-in-hand" with Betar and Canary Mission, two organizations that operate online surveillance networks targeting pro-Palestine activists, to select targets and deprive them of constitutional rights. The suit contends the Heritage Foundation and two of its leaders conceived "Project Esther," which it describes as the blueprint for what became a "public-private partnership" aimed at defeating the Palestinian rights movement.
"This case is about far more than what was done to me. It's about a coordinated, ongoing campaign to punish, silence, and intimidate anyone who dares to speak out for Palestinian liberation," Khalil said at a press conference Tuesday. "It's about exposing the network of organizations, political actors, and institutions that work together to criminalize solidarity with Palestine and to make an example of those who refuse to stay silent."
Betar US publicly claimed responsibility for Khalil's arrest. Last year, the Guardian reported that the group said it had submitted "thousands of names" to the administration for similar enforcement action.
Details about government reliance on these surveillance groups surfaced during a separate trial last year over the administration's campaign targeting pro-Palestinian scholars. In that proceeding, Peter Hatch, a senior official within Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations division, testified that ICE assembled a dedicated team to investigate student protesters. The team compiled more than 100 reports based on a list of 5,000 individuals identified on the Canary Mission website.
"The direction was to look at the website," Hatch said in trial testimony. "That we should look at the individuals named in the Canary Mission website."
The lawsuit invokes the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, legislation originally enacted to combat violent vigilante activity by the Klan. The complaint alleges Project Esther "was a document that described the plan to identify and target pro-Palestinian, non-citizen students and scholars, who would then be arrested and deported by the federal defendant participants in the conspiracy."
The Trump administration has disputed the core allegations. A White House spokesperson stated that "Khalil obtained his visa by willfully and intentionally failing to accurately report information relevant to his background. Those who lie to the government to obtain entry into the United States will face justice."
Federal authorities initially justified Khalil's deportation pursuit by claiming his views posed a threat to US foreign policy. Rubio stated at the time that Khalil's presence in the country would have "adverse foreign policy consequences." The government later alleged he "misrepresented" information on his green-card application, a charge his legal team denies.
Khalil was released from immigration detention in June, but removal proceedings continue. A federal appeals court earlier this year ruled that his case must proceed in immigration court rather than other venues. His attorneys have indicated they will seek Supreme Court intervention.
The arrest and detention drew condemnation from civil liberties and free-speech organizations. Actors Cynthia Nixon and Morgan Spector were among speakers at Tuesday's press conference supporting Khalil's case.
The Heritage Foundation, Canary Mission, and Betar US did not respond to requests for comment.
Author James Rodriguez: "The explosive testimony from ICE officials about using Canary Mission's list as a roadmap for investigations cuts straight to the heart of what Khalil is alleging, and if that coordination can be proven, this lawsuit has serious teeth."
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