Key points
- Khalil calls the lawsuit a “first step towards accountability”
- He was freed from a federal immigration detention centre in Louisiana last month
- Khalil was a figurehead of student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Mahmoud Khalil, one of the most prominent leaders of US anti-war campus protests, sued the Trump administration Thursday for $20 million over his arrest and detention by immigration agents, AFP reported.
Khalil, a legal permanent resident in the United States who is married to a US citizen and has a US-born son, had been in custody following his arrest in March.
The 30-year-old was freed from a federal immigration detention center in Louisiana last month, hours after a judge ordered his release on bail.
“Illegal plan”
“The administration carried out its illegal plan to arrest, detain, and deport Mr Khalil ‘in a manner calculated to terrorize him and his family,’ the claim says,” AFP cited the Center for Constitutional Rights which is backing Khalil as saying.
Khalil suffered “severe emotional distress, economic hardship (and) damage to his reputation,” the claim adds.
The Columbia University graduate was a figurehead of student protests against US ally Israel’s war in Gaza, and the Trump administration labelled him a national security threat, AFP reported.
“Accountability”
Khalil called the lawsuit a “first step towards accountability.”
“Nothing can restore the 104 days stolen from me. The trauma, the separation from my wife, the birth of my first child that I was forced to miss,” AFP cited Khalil as saying. “There must be accountability for political retaliation and abuse of power.”
Khalil has previously shared his “horrendous” experience in detention, where he “shared a dorm with over 70 men, absolutely no privacy, lights on all the time.”
READ ALSO: US Judge Blocks Deportation of Palestinian Activist Khalil
The Trump administration has claimed Khalil’s deportation is justified because of “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” if he remains in the US, DW reported.
Khalil’s detention came amid Trump’s campaign against top US universities in recent months, with the president facing off against Columbia, Harvard and other schools over foreign student enrollment while cutting federal grants and threatening to strip accreditation, AFP reported.
Beyond his legal case, Khalil’s team has expressed fear he could face threats out of detention.
