The former Columbia University graduate student became the face of the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestine speech after he was detained last year. A permanent US resident, Khalil is also fighting in court against the government’s effort to deport him.

The lawsuit, filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of Khalil, says that the Trump administration coordinated with Betar and Canary Mission, two pro-Israel online surveillance groups, in selecting “targets of the conspiracy”.

“This case is about far more than what was done to me. It’s about a coordinated, ongoing campaign to punish, silence and intimidate anyone who dares to speak out for Palestinian liberation,” Khalil said on Tuesday at a press conference announcing the lawsuit.

“It’s about exposing the network of organizations, political actors and institutions that work together to criminalize solidarity with Palestine and to make an example of those who refuse to stay silent.”

Khalil’s lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, names several top Trump officials, including White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former homeland security secretary Kristi Noem, as defendants, as well as the conservative thinktank the Heritage Foundation, Canary Mission and Betar.

The suit says the Heritage Foundation and two of its leaders led the formulation of “Project Esther”, an effort the lawsuit claims “served as the blueprint” for what became a “public-private partnership” working to defeat the growing movement for Palestinian rights.

The complaint also says government officials worked “hand-in-hand” with the groups “to deprive the selected individuals of their fundamental rights and to broadcast the chilling message that Palestinians and their supporters would be subject to state repression solely because of their identities and constitutionally-protected political viewpoints”.

The lawsuit is being brought under the the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, originally passed to combat violent vigilantism on the part of the Klan.

Federal immigration authorities arrested Khalil, who was born in Syria to Palestinian parents, in March 2025, over his advocacy for Palestinian rights. He was sent to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana, where he was held for 104 days, during which he missed the birth of his child. He is married to a US citizen.

The Trump administration initially argued that Khalil could be deported because his views posed a threat to US foreign policy, with Rubio saying at the time that Khalil’s presence in the US would have “adverse foreign policy consequences”.

His arrest and detention drew widespread condemnation from civil-liberties and free-speech groups, and a number of high-profile voices have spoken out on his behalf.

Source: Guardian