NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 On a recent afternoon, Mahmoud Khalil sat in his Manhattan apartment, cradling his 10-week-old son as he thought back to the pre-dawn hours spent pacing a frigid immigration jail in Louisiana, awaiting news of the child鈥檚 birth in New York.
For a moment, the found himself uncharacteristically speechless.
鈥淚 cannot describe the pain of that night,鈥 Khalil said finally, gazing down as the baby, Deen, cooed in his arms. 鈥淭his is something I will never forgive.鈥
Now, weeks after regaining his freedom, Khalil is seeking restitution. On Thursday, his lawyers filed a claim for $20 million in damages against the Trump administration, alleging Khalil was falsely imprisoned, maliciously prosecuted and smeared as an antisemite as the government sought to deport him over his prominent role in campus protests.
The filing 鈥 a precursor to a lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act 鈥 names the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the State Department.
It comes as the deportation case against Khalil, a 30-year-old recent graduate student at Columbia University, continues to wind its way through the immigration court system.
The goal, Khalil said, is to send a message that he won't be intimidated into silence.
鈥淭hey are abusing their power because they think they are untouchable,鈥 Khalil said. 鈥淯nless they feel there is some sort of accountability, it will continue to go unchecked.鈥
Khalil said he plans to share any settlement money with others targeted in Trump鈥檚 鈥渇ailed鈥 effort to suppress pro-Palestinian speech. In lieu of a settlement, he would also accept an official apology and changes to the administration鈥檚 deportation policies.
A White House spokesperson deferred comment to the State Department, which said its actions were fully supported by the law.
In an emailed statement, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, called Khalil鈥檚 claim 鈥渁bsurd,鈥 accusing him of 鈥渉ateful behavior and rhetoric鈥 that threatened Jewish students.
Harsh conditions and an 鈥榓bsurd鈥 allegation
The filing accuses President Donald Trump and other officials of mounting a haphazard and illegal campaign to 鈥渢errorize him and his family,鈥 beginning with Khalil鈥檚
On that night, he said he was returning home from dinner with his wife, Noor Abdalla, when he was 鈥渆ffectively kidnapped鈥 by plainclothes federal agents, who refused to provide a warrant and appeared surprised to learn he was a legal U.S. permanent resident.
He was then whisked overnight to an immigration jail in Jena, Louisiana, a remote location that was 鈥渄eliberately concealed鈥 from his family and attorneys, according to the filing.
Inside, Khalil said he was denied his ulcer medication, forced to sleep under harsh fluorescent lights and fed 鈥渘early inedible鈥 food, causing him to lose 15 pounds (7 kilograms). 鈥淚 cannot remember a night when I didn鈥檛 go to sleep hungry,鈥 Khalil recalled.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration publicly celebrated the arrest, promising to deport him and others whose protests against Israel it dubbed 鈥減ro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.鈥
Khalil, who has condemned antisemitism before and since his arrest, was not accused of a crime and has not been linked to Hamas or any other terror group. 鈥淎t some point, it becomes like reality TV,鈥 Khalil said of the allegations. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very absurd.鈥
Deported for beliefs
A few weeks into his incarceration, Khalil was awoken by a fellow detainee, who pointed excitedly to his face on a jailhouse TV screen. A signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged Khalil hadn鈥檛 broken the law, but argued he should be deported for beliefs that could undermine U.S. foreign policy interests.
鈥淢y beliefs are not wanting my tax money or tuition going toward investments in weapons manufacturers for a genocide,鈥 Khalil said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 as simple as that.鈥
By then, Khalil had become something of a celebrity in the 1,200-person lock-up. When not dealing with his own case, he hosted 鈥渙ffice hours鈥 for fellow immigrant detainees, leaning on his past experience to help others organize paperwork and find translators for their cases.
鈥淚鈥檓 pretty good at bureaucracy,鈥 Khalil said.
At night, they played Russian and Mexican card games, as Khalil listened to 鈥渙ne story after another from people who didn鈥檛 understand what鈥檚 happening to them.鈥
鈥淭his was one of the most heartbreaking moments,鈥 he said. 鈥淧eople on the inside don鈥檛 know if they have any rights.鈥
Lost time
On June 20, after 104 days in custody, Khalil was ordered released by a federal judge, who found the government's efforts to remove him on foreign policy grounds were likely unconstitutional.
He now faces new allegations of misrepresenting personal details on his green card application. In a filed late Wednesday, attorneys for Khalil described those charges as baseless and retaliatory, urging a judge to dismiss them.
The weeks since his release, Khalil said, have brought moments of bliss and intense personal anguish.
Fearing harassment or possible arrest, he leaves the house less frequently, avoiding large crowds or late-night walks. But he lit up as he remembered watching Deen taking his first swim earlier in the week. 鈥淚t was not very pleasant for him,鈥 Khalil said, smiling.
鈥淚鈥檓 trying as much as possible to make up for the time with my son and my wife,鈥 he added. 鈥淎s well thinking about my future and trying to comprehend this new reality.鈥
Part of that reality, he said, will be continuing his efforts to advocate against , which has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza鈥檚 Health Ministry. On the day after his release, he led a march through Manhattan, draped in a Palestinian flag 鈥 and flanked by security.
As he poured Deen鈥檚 milk into a bottle, Khalil considered whether he might鈥檝e done anything differently had he known the personal cost of his activism.
鈥淲e could鈥檝e communicated better. We could鈥檝e built more bridges with more people,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut the core thing of opposing a genocide, I don鈥檛 think you can do that any differently. This is your moral imperative when you鈥檙e watching your people be slaughtered by the minute.鈥
