The Center for Constitutional Rights filed a lawsuit on behalf of Mahmoud Khalil under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, alleging that he was the target of a conspiracy between private actors and federal officials who coordinated to target, detain, and attempt to deport him because he is Palestinian and he advocated for Palestinian rights.

Mahmoud was arrested on March 8, 2025, detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and eventually transferred to immigration detention in Jena, Louisiana, nearly 1,300 miles from his family and counsel. He was detained for 104 days and missed the birth of his first child. The lawsuit details how government officials and private actors worked together to punish Mahmoud and suppress his political speech by surveilling him and then targeting him for arrest, imprisonment, and deportation, and perpetuating false allegations of terrorism and antisemitism, absent any evidence.

The suit was filed against private entities and individuals (Betar and its leaders, Canary Mission and its leaders, the Heritage Foundation, and Robert Greenway and Victoria Coates, the lead authors of “Project Esther”) as well as senior members of the Trump administration (senior Presidential advisor Stephen Miller, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs John Armstrong).

The Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 (42 U.S.C. § 1985(3)) is a Reconstruction-era anti-conspiracy statute enacted in response to racialized violence against Black people, intended to stop coordinated efforts between private vigilante groups such as the KKK and the government to strip individuals of their constitutional rights. The KKK Act was passed to punish Klan conspiracies that sought to terrorize and intimidate Black citizens and make examples of them in order to send a repressive message to others who would dare exercise their constitutional rights. Mahmoud is now using this statute to affirmatively challenge the illegal, anti-Palestinian, and anti-democratic public-private conspiracy to harass, intimidate, and punish Palestinians and their allies.

Mahmoud’s arrest, detention, and ongoing removal proceedings were the result of his activism in support of Palestine, particularly on Columbia University’s campus, and he was one of several students and academics affected by this conspiracy. Mahmoud’s arrest is part of a broader strategy by the Trump administration to criminalize solidarity and chill speech on issues disfavorable to the government.

The Center for Constitutional Rights also represents Mahmoud Khalil alongside partners in his habeas case, a request for documents about his targeting by the government under the Freedom of Information Act, and a complaint for damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act. This case builds on the Center for Constitutional Rights and partners' historic work to challenge repression against Palestine solidarity activists, which has skyrocketed since October 2023.