Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent pro-Palestine advocate, has filed a lawsuit against officials of the US regime under President Donald Trump and three private groups, alleging a coordinated conspiracy to target and deport him. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday with the US federal district court in Manhattan, seeks damages from the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, pro-Israel groups Betar and Canary Mission, and several senior Trump regime officials.
The lawsuit claims the Heritage Foundation created a "blueprint" dubbed "Project Esther" to dismantle the growing pro-Palestine movement in the US by targeting prominent non-citizens and conflating pro-Palestine advocacy with anti-Jewish sentiment. Khalil's legal team alleges the organization then relied on groups like Betar, a far-right Zionist youth movement, and Canary Mission, which has long anonymously surveilled pro-Palestine advocates, to identify targets.
The lawsuit further points to White House adviser Stephen Miller's work with the Heritage Foundation before Trump took office for his second term in January 2025. Among the defendants are Miller, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former and current secretaries of homeland security Kristi Noem and Markwayne Mullin, and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
The legal action also seeks to bar any aspects of the alleged conspiracy from being used to justify ongoing deportation proceedings against Khalil. "This case is about far more than what was done to me," Khalil said at a news conference outside the federal court. "It's about exposing the network of organizations, political actors, and institutions that work together to criminalize solidarity with Palestine and to make an example of those who refuse to stay silent."
Khalil, a US green card holder and former Columbia University student activist, was arrested on March 8, 2025, by federal agents and detained for 104 days at an immigration detention center in Louisiana. He has since fought his deportation in separate proceedings in federal and immigration courts. A federal judge in New Jersey ordered his release in June 2025, but the Trump regime successfully appealed, rejecting the federal court's jurisdiction. A federal judge has since issued a stay, barring the regime from detaining or deporting Khalil as proceedings continue.
Khalil's lawyer Baher Azmy decried a "private-public partnership to single out non-citizen students who would be vulnerable to immigration laws" and cited the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson responded, claiming Khalil misrepresented himself in his immigration application, stating: "Those who lie to the government to obtain entry into the United States will face justice."
Source: www.aljazeera.com