A Palestinian activist, who was detained for over three months in a US immigration jail after protesting against Israel, is taking legal action against Donald Trump’s administration for damages amounting to $20m (£15m).
Mahmoud Khalil’s lawyers have filed a lawsuit accusing the administration of wrongful imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and falsely branding him as an antisemite to justify their efforts to deport him on account of his participation in campus protests.
The 30-year-old Columbia University graduate student recounted to Sky News’s Yalda Hakim how being detained by ICE agents in March felt like “kidnapping”.
Describing the experience, Khalil narrated the ordeal of being moved “from one place to another” by “plainclothes agents and unmarked cars,” always kept shackled, which he found “incredibly frightening”.
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Mahmoud Khalil reunites with family after release
Mr Khalil claimed he wasn’t presented with an arrest warrant or informed of his destination during the detention.
He described the detention centre as “as far from humane as it could be,” a place where “you have no rights whatsoever”.
“You share a dorm with over 70 men with no privacy, lights on all the time, really terrible food. You’re basically being dehumanised at every opportunity. It’s a black hole,” he added.
Mr Khalil said he would also accept an official apology from the Trump administration.
The Trump administration celebrated Mr Khalil’s arrest, promising to deport him and others for “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity” based on their protests against Israel.
After around 36 hours in captivity, Mr Khalil was allowed to speak to his pregnant wife.
“These were very scary hours; I didn’t know what was happening on the outside. I didn’t know if my wife was safe,” he said.
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‘Absolutely absurd allegations’
Mr Khalil dismissed administration officials’ claims that he was involved in anti-Semitic activities and supported Hamas as “absolutely absurd”.
“They are weaponising Anti-Semitism, weaponising anti-terrorism in order to stifle speech,” he stated. “What I was involved in was simply opposing a genocide, opposing war crimes, and opposing Columbia University’s complicity in the war on Gaza.”
A State Department spokesperson confirmed that their actions regarding Mr Khalil were in accordance with the law.
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On the pain of missing his son’s birth while in detention, Mr Khalil said: “There isn’t any word that can describe the agony and sadness of being deprived from such a cherished moment, a moment that my wife and I always dreamed of.”
Meanwhile, the ongoing deportation case against Mr Khalil is being processed through the immigration court system.
