Mahmoud Khalil Files Claim to Hold Trump Administration Accountable for Unlawful Arrest and Other Abuses

Recently released after 104 days in detention, he seeks damages for harm caused by politically motivated arrest

July 10, 2025, New York – Mahmoud Khalil today filed a claim detailing the harm he has suffered as a result of his politically motivated arrest and detention. The claim is a precursor to a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, which he will bring under the Federal Tort Claims Act, a 1946 federal statute that allows individuals to sue the U.S. government for damages for civil law violations. 

Mr. Khalil is seeking $20 million, which he would use to help others similarly targeted by the Trump administration and Columbia University. He would accept, in lieu of payment, an official apology and abandonment of the administration’s unconstitutional policy. 

Recently released after 104 days in detention, Mr. Khalil was the first person arrested by the Trump administration in its retaliatory crackdown on immigrants who have spoken out for Palestinian rights. The administration carried out its illegal plan to arrest, detain, and deport Mr. Khalil “in a manner calculated to terrorize him and his family,” the claim says. His mistreatment has caused and continues to cause “severe emotional distress, economic hardship, damage to his reputation, and significant impairment of his First Amendment and Fifth Amendment rights.” This is the first damages complaint brought by an individual targeted as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on noncitizens protesting Israel’s genocide in Gaza. 

“This is the first step towards accountability. Nothing can restore the 104 days stolen from me. The trauma, the separation from my wife, the birth of my first child that I was forced to miss. But let’s be clear, the same government that targeted me for speaking out is using taxpayer dollars to fund Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.” said Mr. Khalil. “There must be accountability for political retaliation and abuse of power. And I won’t stop here. I will continue to pursue justice against everyone who contributed to my unlawful detention or spread lies in an attempt to destroy my reputation, including those affiliated with Columbia University. I’m holding the U.S. government accountable not just for myself, but for everyone they try to silence through fear, exile, or detention.”

Directed at the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the claim cites a range of abuses, including malicious prosecution and abuse of process, false arrest, false imprisonment, and negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress. These abuses resulted from Secretary Rubio’s unconstitutional use of provision in the 1952 Immigration and Naturalization Act that allows the federal government to deport people if there are “reasonable grounds” to believe they harm U.S. foreign policy. 

From the beginning, malice marked the Trump administration’s treatment of Mr. Khalil. When DHS agents took him into custody, for example, they threatened to also arrest his wife, a U.S. citizen, who was eight months pregnant. They then sent him 1,400 miles away, to Louisiana to inhibit any legal challenge and withheld his ulcer medication and clothes for two days. 

“The Trump administration's unconstitutional targeting of Mr. Khalil led to severe harms that he continues to navigate, including financial loss, reputational damage, and emotional distress,” said Samah Sisay, Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. “Mr. Khalil will never get back the three months stolen from him while in immigration detention, including his child’s birth and first months of life. The government must take accountability for their unlawful actions and compensate Mr. Khalil for his suffering.”

Further, agents arrested Mr. Khalil without probable cause and under false pretenses. They entered his student housing, a private space, without permission or a warrant, violating his Fourth Amendment rights, and then falsely claimed his student visa and green card had been revoked. Later, during his fingerprinting, he overheard an agent say, "The White House is requesting an update” – more evidence that the motivation for his arrest was political, not legal. 

His false arrest and detention have caused Mr. Khalil significant and lasting harm. He was separated from his wife during the final month of her pregnancy and forced to miss the birth of his first child and the first few months of his life when ICE denied him furlough. Due to stress and substandard food, he lost fifteen pounds in detention. Cabinet officials have repeatedly publicly smeared him as a terrorist, subjecting him and his family to harassment, threats to their safety, and economic insecurity. In response to his arrest and public denigration, a human rights nonprofit rescinded his job offer, jeopardizing his career in his chosen field and placing in doubt his ability to secure future employment. 

 

The Center for Constitutional Rights works with communities under threat to fight for justice and liberation through litigation, advocacy, and strategic communications. Since 1966, the Center for Constitutional Rights has taken on oppressive systems of power, including structural racism, gender oppression, economic inequity, and governmental overreach. Learn more at ccrjustice.org.

 

Last modified 

July 10, 2025