Evidence suggests ICE targeted Khalil and other activists based on info from Canary Mission and other anti-Palestinian groups

November 20, 2025, New York – Mahmoud Khalil today brought a lawsuit seeking to compel the Trump administration to release its communications with anti-Palestinian organizations and individuals in the run-up to his arrest last March. These organizations have claimed credit for his arrest, and evidence, including testimony from an ICE official, indicates that the administration acted on information – and misinformation – provided by these groups in cracking down on Mr. Khalil and other Palestine solidarity activists. 

Released in June after more than three months in detention, Mr. Khalil continues to battle the Trump administration’s effort to deport him, which a federal judge has called “likely unconstitutional.” Mr. Khalil is one of at least nine people targeted by ICE shortly after being doxxed and harassed by the network of pro-Israel propaganda websites and groups. These outfits have gained unprecedented influence amid the Trump administration campaign to deport students and academics for speaking out for Palestinian rights and against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. 

“For months, shady organizations and individuals carried out a smear and harassment campaign designed to intimidate and silence me,” said Mr. Khalil. “The public deserves full accountability for every bad actor who helped make that possible, including those at Columbia who fabricated and amplified these smears and opened the door for state retaliation against Palestinian speech.” 

Mr. Khalil’s lawsuit seeks to shed light on the relationship between the Trump administration and the shadowy organizations known for their unfounded allegations of terrorist ties and anti-semitism. It follows the administration’s failure to comply with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request Mr. Khalil submitted in May. In the interim – during a trial that led a federal judge to conclude that the Trump administration had engaged in an unconstitutional policy of “ideological deportation” – an ICE official testified that the agency reviewed more than 5,000 names supplied by Canary Mission, an anonymous, obscurely funded doxxing organization. Mr. Khalil’s was among them.

The testimony built on existing evidence of collusion. Several weeks before Mr. Khalil’s arrest, Betar USA – an affiliate of Betar, an openly racist ultrazionist movement – included him on its “deport list” and posted on X that ICE was “aware of his home address and whereabouts.” Betar said it had shared information with administration officials, including Secretary of State Rubio. On March 7, the day before Mr. Khalil’s arrest, Documenting Jew Hatred on Campus called for his deportation in a post on X and tagged Secretary of State Marco Rubio. On March 6, Shai Davidai, a Columbia professor and advisory board member of Documenting Jew Hatred, had done the same.

“Mr. Khalil and the public at large have the right to know about the depth of the collusion between the federal  government and the shadowy groups targeting people who speak out against a genocide,” said Adina Marx-Arpadi, an attorney and Justice Fellow at the Center for Consttutional Rights.

The other people targeted first by the anti-Palestinian groups and then by the administration are Mohsen Mahdawi (Columbia University), Rümeysa Öztürk (Tufts University), Momodou Taal (Cornell University), Dr. Badar Khan Suri (Georgetown University), Efe Ercelik (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Ranajani Srinivasan (Columbia University), Leqaa Kordia (Columbia University), and Yunseo Chung (Columbia University).  

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

The original FOIA request and today’s suit were filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is part of the legal team representing Mr. Khalil in his case challenging the constitutionality of his arrest and detention. In that case, he is also represented by Dratel & Lewis, CLEAR, Van Der Hout LLP, Washington Square Legal Services, the ACLU, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), the ACLU of Louisiana, and the ACLU of New Jersey. 

For more information, please see the case page. This FOIA is part of the Open Records Project at the Center for Constitutional Rights.