NEW YORK (AP) — Mahmoud Khalil gently rocked his 10-week-old son in a Manhattan apartment as he recalled the frigid, anxious hours he spent pacing the floor of an immigration detention facility in Louisiana, desperately awaiting news of his baby’s birth in New York.
For a man known for his strong voice in political activism, the memory left him momentarily speechless.
“I cannot describe the pain of that night,” Khalil eventually said, eyes fixed on baby Deen nestled in his arms. “This is something I will never forgive.”
Now free after spending over three months in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, Khalil has taken legal steps against the Trump administration by filing a $20 million claim. The demand for damages hinges on allegations that he was wrongfully imprisoned, subjected to malicious prosecution, and publicly defamed as an antisemite. His legal team says it reflects the government’s broader effort to deport him due to his outspoken role in pro-Palestinian campus protests.
On Thursday, Khalil’s lawyers submitted the claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act, naming the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the State Department as defendants. Though such claims typically precede a formal lawsuit, Khalil is clear about his intent: he wants accountability and change.
The deportation proceedings against the 30-year-old Columbia University graduate remain active in immigration court. In the meantime, Khalil hopes to set a precedent that challenges the treatment of political activists.
“They are abusing their power because they think they are untouchable,” he said. “Unless they feel there is some sort of accountability, it will continue to go unchecked.”
Khalil added that any financial settlement could be allocated to support others who were allegedly targeted during what he called Trump’s “failed” attempt to silence pro-Palestinian views. Beyond monetary compensation, he said he would consider a formal apology and reform in deportation policies as an acceptable resolution.
In response, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement labeling the claim “absurd” and accused Khalil of engaging in “hateful behavior and rhetoric” that endangered Jewish students. The State Department, for its part, stated that its actions were legally sound. Requests for comment from ICE and the White House have so far gone unanswered.
Mahmoud Khalil’s ordeal began on the night of March 8. He and his wife, Noor Abdalla, had just returned from dinner when plainclothes federal agents intercepted him. According to Khalil, the agents offered no arrest warrant and seemed surprised to discover he held legal U.S. permanent residency status.
He was swiftly transported to an ICE facility in Jena, Louisiana—a remote center that his family and legal team struggled to locate for days. Khalil alleges the location was deliberately kept secret to restrict access and communications.
During his incarceration, he says he was denied medication critical for his ulcer, forced to sleep under unrelenting fluorescent lighting, and subjected to near-inedible meals. He claims he lost approximately 15 pounds (7 kilograms) and often went to bed hungry. “I cannot remember a night when I didn’t go to sleep hungry,” he said.
Despite the harsh conditions, government officials publicly championed his arrest, accusing him and other student protestors of supporting terrorism, antisemitism, and anti-American agendas through demonstrations opposing Israeli policy. Such statements, Khalil dismisses as “reality TV.” While he has consistently denounced antisemitism, authorities never charged him with a crime nor linked him to any terrorist organization such as Hamas.
Weeks after his confinement began, a fellow detainee tapped Khalil awake with news—his face was on national television. The media was discussing a newly signed memo by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Although the document acknowledged Khalil’s lack of any criminal record, it urged deportation based on the claim that his ideological positions could undermine U.S. foreign policy.
“My beliefs are not wanting my tax money or tuition going toward investments in weapons manufacturers for a genocide,” Khalil said. “It’s as simple as that.”
While facing this pressure, Khalil turned into a mentor figure within the 1,200-person facility. Drawing on prior diplomatic experience at the British embassy in Beirut, he began organizing “office hours” to help fellow detainees fill out forms and secure translation services. “I’m pretty good at bureaucracy,” he quipped.
In the evenings, detainees would play card games hailing from various cultures—Russian and Mexican among them—as Khalil lent a listening ear to stories of confusion and despair. “People on the inside don’t know if they have any rights,” he said. “This was one of the most heartbreaking moments.”
After spending 104 days in detention, a federal judge ruled on June 20 that Khalil should be released. The judge found that the government’s legal stance to remove him based purely on ideological grounds was likely unconstitutional.
Now, however, Khalil faces fresh allegations that he misrepresented personal information on his green card application. His lawyers pushed back Wednesday with a motion dismissing the claims as unfounded and retaliatory.
In the weeks following his release, Khalil has experienced both emotional highs and heavy burdens. Hesitant to expose himself to renewed harassment, he limits his outings and avoids large gatherings. Still, he beams when describing Deen’s first swim. “It was not very pleasant for him,” he said with a smile.
“I’m trying as much as possible to make up for the time with my son and my wife,” Khalil added. “As well thinking about my future and trying to comprehend this new reality.”
That future, he says, will include continued advocacy against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which Gaza’s Health Ministry reports has claimed over 57,000 lives—more than half of them women and children. Khalil’s work has already made headlines, from leading a Manhattan protest draped in a Palestinian flag the day after his arrest to continuing public appeals for attention to the conflict.
As he cautiously poured milk into a bottle for Deen, Mahmoud Khalil weighed the personal cost of activism. Would he have changed anything if given the chance?
“We could’ve communicated better. We could’ve built more bridges with more people,” he reflected. “But the core thing of opposing a genocide, I don’t think you can do that any differently. This is your moral imperative when you’re watching your people be slaughtered by the minute.”
