Propalestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil filed a complaint on Thursday against the Trump administration to claim compensation after 104 days of “political” detention. He claims $ 20 million (M $) or public apology from the US government, he said in a statement.
The leader of the protest movement of Columbia University in New York claims $ 20 million in damages, that he would use to help other people targeted in the same way
said in a press release the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which represents it in court.
More He would accept, in place of payment, official apology and the abandonment of the unconstitutional policy of the administration
added the organization.
The student, graduated in 2024, estimates that ill -treatment
caused him serious emotional distress, economic difficulties, damage to its reputation and significant damage to its rights
according to the CCR.
A “political” arrest, according to his lawyers
Born in Syria of Palestinian parents and holder of an American resident card, Mahmoud Khalil had been arrested on March 8 at the foot of his university residence by plainclothes of the Federal Border Police (ICE). He had been transferred to a detention center for migrants in Louisiana, thousands of kilometers, from where he could not attend the birth of his son. His lawyers have always denounced an arrest policy
And unjustified, which would aim to muzzle any challenge to the war waged by Israel in Gaza.
Protesters gather in Times Square to request the release of Mahmoud Khalil, on April 12, 2025, in New York.
Photo : Getty Images / David Dee Delgado
The Trump administration accuses him of being a Hamas support
and justifies the expulsion procedure by the risk that it would have the foreign policy
American.
The student was released by justice on June 21, but his expulsion procedure is still underway.
Nothing can replace the 104 days that have been stolen from me. The trauma, the separation from my wife, the birth of my first child that I was forced to miss.
Contacted by theAFPthe Ministry of Internal Security (DHS) qualified its accusations asabsurd
.
The Trump administration has acted perfectly in the context of its statutory and constitutional authority to hold Khalil, as it does with any stranger who advocates violence, glorifies and supports terrorists, harass the Jews and damages goods
also replied a spokesperson for DHSTricia McLaughlin.