New York, New York - Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil has announced a new lawsuit against the university over its treatment of students who took a stand for Palestine.

"Today, I am filing a lawsuit against Columbia University and SIPA [School of International and Public Affairs] Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo for their gross and systemic discrimination against Palestinian students at Columbia," Khalil posted on X on Monday.

The lawsuit argues that the university and Yarhi-Milo displayed "deliberate indifference" and failed to respond to "severe, persistent, and coordinated harassment" of students who spoke out for Palestine.

While a graduate student at Columbia, Khalil served as a negotiator between pro-Palestine protesters and the administration. He spent more than 100 days in ICE detention after he was arrested in March 2025 and missed the birth of his child while in custody.

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The Trump administration targeted the green card holder for deportation due to his activism, claiming he posed a threat to US foreign policy interests.

The 31-year-old was finally released from ICE detention in June 2025, though the Trump administration has continued to seek his deportation.

In a press conference outside the Columbia gates, Khalil said he "did not know that behind these walls was a rotten, institutionalized anti-Palestinian bigotry entrenched in every department and pushed down from the board of trustees" when he arrived at the university to pursue his MPA.

"Dean Yarhi-Milo is not only a terrible administrator, is not only a failed dean, but a manipulative one who weaponizes her identity to shield herself from legitimate concerns and criticism," Khalil said.

"Her priority has never been her students, me and my fellow students here. Her priority has always been Israel."

Khalil has repeatedly accused his alma mater of complicity in his ICE detention.

He pointed to the suspension of groups like the Palestine Working Group, the calling in of the NYPD to suppress protests, and the hiring of private investigators to target pro-Palestine students and faculty as examples of the university's repressive actions.

On Monday, The Intercept reported Columbia had given hundreds of thousands of dollars to pro-Israel groups over the last three years, including to AIPAC's charity arm, the Israel on Campus Coalition, and others.

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"Columbia laid the groundwork for my targeting by the Trump administration through its deliberate indifference and discrimination aimed at intimidating Palestinian students," Khalil said.

"We are suing because no student should ever have to go through the hell Columbia put us through all these years."

The suit is not the first legal action Khalil has taken seeking accountability after his detention, and it sounds like it might not be the last.

"I will continue to seek accountability for all the wrongs that were done to me and my peers," Khalil wrote on Monday. "Next, I will turn to the hateful individuals at Columbia who were also responsible for what we endured. Stay tuned."