Former Columbia student agitator Mahmoud Khalil sues Trump admin, Heritage Foundation—claims 'Zionist' conspiracy against him in violation of KKK Act

Mahmoud Khalil, the leader of a pro-Palestinian Gaza camp protest at Columbia University who was ordered to be deported by the Trump administration, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday alleging that the Trump administration along with multiple pro-Israel groups colluded to target him and pro-Palestinian activists.

The 131-page complaint, filed on Tuesday, alleges that the Trump administration, Heritage Foundation, Betar USA, Stephen Miller, the Canary Mission, and other Trump administration officials carried "out a conspiracy to single out Mr. Khalil and other non-citizen Palestinians and their supporters for arrest, detention, and deportation, as punishment for their support of Palestinian rights," in violation of the KKK Act.

The lawsuit claims that the "conspirators’ actions, motivated by their shared unlawful purpose and animus, sought to terrorize and make an example of Mr. Khalil and other non-citizen 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."

Khalil announced the lawsuit on X, saying, "Today, I sued the Heritage Foundation, Stephen Miller, a Columbia affiliate, and others under the KKK Act. I will not stop fighting until everyone who willingly contributed to my missing the birth of my son—and 104 days of my life—answers for it. More actions will come soon. But this lawsuit is about far more than what was done to me. It is about a coordinated, ongoing plot to punish, silence, and intimidate everyone who dares to dissent and speak out for Palestinian liberation. We will hold them accountable."

During a press conference at New York City Hall, Khalil said that the wider purpose of the lawsuit is “about exposing the network of organizations, political actors, and institutions that work together to criminalize solidarity with Palestine," and then describing the groups in the lawsuit at "Zionist." 

“For decades, the state of Israel and the Zionist organizations in this country that operate on behalf of Israel have understood that their conduct cannot survive honest scrutiny,” Khalil added. “So rather than defend or change their conduct, they resorted to make scrutiny itself impossible. They brand criticism of a government as hatred of a people. They rebrand documented atrocities as debates.”

Khalil then listed off groups included in the lawsuit, including Canary Mission, Betar, and "their institutional allies," and then claimed the pro-Israel groups' mission is to "surveil, blacklist and destroy anyone who tells the truth about Palestine."

Khalil was in immigration detention for 104 days after his arrest before his later release in June 2025. Khalil has been ordered to be deported by the Trump administration, but it has been a back-and-forth legal case with various judges ruling that he can be deported or that he can stay in the US.

In May he was awarded a stay, which blocks the Trump administration from deporting him until his case goes to the Supreme Court.

The KKK Act, which Khalil claims the Trump administration and the various groups violated, is an 1871 anti-conspiracy law that is intended to curb the government's association with vigilante groups. The lawsuit claims there was a "conspiracy" between pro-Israel groups including the Heritage Foundation, Canary Mission and Betar USA in conjunction with Trump administration officials such as Stephen Miller and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in order to target Khalil and other pro-Palestinian activists for deportation.

Khalil Lawsuit