Inset: Mahmoud Khalil speaking to reporters (WCBS) Background: President Donald Trump listens as Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, Monday, March 24, 2025 (Pool via AP).
A Columbia University graduate student who was detained by immigration authorities earlier this year, despite living in the U.S. legally with a green card, has fired back at the Trump administration with a $20 million legal claim — accusing the president, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Homeland Security leadership and White House officials of “targeting” and “smearing” the student after he was “kidnapped in front of his pregnant wife,” his lawyers say.
“The undersigned counsel hereby submits an administrative claim brought pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) on behalf of Mr. Mahmoud Khalil against the United States government for serious wrongs committed by U.S. officials during the course of their employment,” wrote Khalil”s attorneys in a notice of claim Thursday.
Although the federal government is usually immune from lawsuits, the FTCA waives that immunity in certain circumstances, including when a plaintiff has a state-law claim stemming from a government official’s performance of a discretionary duty that advances federal policy.
“Those wrongs include subjecting Mr. Khalil to: false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, abuse of process, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent infliction of emotional distress,” the notice said.
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The Center for Constitutional Rights is seeking FTCA damages from the Trump administration on behalf of Khalil, filing the notice Thursday as a precursor to a federal lawsuit that Khalil intends to file, citing his March arrest, detainment and treatment.
“President Trump, Secretary Rubio, and DHS officials, all boastfully proclaimed their intentional targeting of Mr. Khalil for deportation, describing Mr. Khalil’s arrest as the first step in a broader campaign to deport campus protesters,” the notice said Thursday. “ICE officials undertook an unlawful and warrantless arrest of Mr. Khalil at his home, then thereafter handcuffed, shackled, and transported Mr. Khalil over long distances-from New York to Louisiana, all while being denied access to his attorney.”
“These actions lacked any proper legal authority and violated elementary constitutional protections and were done for the purpose of retaliating against Mr. Khalil and otherwise punishing him for constitutionally protected conduct,” the notice stated.
The ACLU, along with co-counsel, is suing both Trump and the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of Khalil, 30, who was detained on March 8 and was facing deportation for what DHS claimed was a violation of Trump’s orders, which call for the removal of anyone deemed a “national security and public safety threat.”
Khalil was released from custody on June 20. His legal team filed a motion for a preliminary injunction on Wednesday, challenging attempts by the government to detain and deport him based on a second immigration charge regarding “alleged misrepresentations on his green card application as unconstitutional,” according to a press release posted by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is representing him in that case.
A government memo obtained by NBC News stated Khalil, an active campus protester, was told by the Trump administration: “The Secretary of State has determined that your presence or activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
His lawyers have accused the Trump administration of “unconstitutionally” silencing Khalil and others living in the U.S. from “speaking, hearing, or engaging with viewpoints critical of the U.S. government” through deportation and other means.
“After Mr. Khalil’s arrest, President Trump, Secretary Rubio, DHS leadership, and the White House doubled down on their targeting, smearing, and humiliation of Mr. Khalil, publicly through their social media posts and public statements,” the notice said. “The targeted smears by U.S. officials have made it nearly impossible for Mr. Khalil to continue his career in international human rights … due to the government’s actions and character assassination.”
Khalil’s lawyers have argued that the efforts to deport him violate his due process rights and should be “void for vagueness,” according to their March 17 motion for preliminary injunctive relief.
“The abusive and unlawful conduct by U.S. officials, from unlawful arrest to unlawful prolonged detention, have caused and will continue to cause Mr. Khalil severe emotional distress, economic hardship, and damage to his reputation,” the notice concluded. “Mr. Khalil seeks an award of damages to compensate for the harms he has suffered.”
