Center for Constitutional Rights lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil  submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on May 29, 2025, seeking records of the Trump administration’s communications with the anti-Palestinian organizations that targeted him prior to his arrest. These outfits – which have long worked together to dox, smear, and harass their political opponents – have recently gained unprecedented influence and access as the Trump administration wages a campaign to deport students and academics in retaliation for speaking out against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The majority, if not all, of the known cases of students and scholars persecuted by ICE because of their political views on Palestine – Mr. Khalil, Dr. Badar Khan Suri, Rümeysa Öztürk, Mohsen Mahdawi, Momodou Taal, and Efe Ercelik – were first targeted by the shadowy anti-Palestinian groups.

Canary Mission, an anonymous, secretly funded doxxing site, posted a profile of Mr. Khalil in January, and, later that month, Betar USA – an affiliate of Betar, an openly racist ultrazionist movement – included him on its now-removed “deport list” and posted on X that ICE was “aware of his home address and whereabouts.” Betar said it had shared names and information with Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Rubio. On March 7, the day before Mr. Khalil’s arrest, Documenting Jew Hatred on Campus – whose advisory board includes Shai Davidai, a Columbia professor suspended last year for harassing staff – called for Mr. Khalil's deportation in a post on X and tagged Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The FOIA request seeks all records of communications between ICE, the DOJ, the DOS, and DHS and the anti-Palestinian groups: Canary Mission, Betar, Documenting Jew Hatred On Campus, Columbia Alumni for Israel, Middle East Forum, Shirion Collective, Capital Research Center, and CAMERA. The FOIA also seeks any communications that the agencies have had with individuals that are reported to have targeted, doxxed, and called for or sought to facilitate the deportation of Mr. Khalil and other pro-Palestinian students.