Mahmoud Khalil demands record of Trump administration communications with anti-Palestinian doxxing groups

Newark, New Jersey - Mahmoud Khalil is seeking information on the Trump administration's communications with the anti-Palestinian organizations that targeted him ahead of his arrest.

Protesters gather outside the federal court in Newark, New Jersey, in support of detained Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil.
Protesters gather outside the federal court in Newark, New Jersey, in support of detained Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil.  © KENA BETANCUR / AFP

Lawyers for Khalil on Thursday submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the records as they continue to challenge the recent Columbia University graduate student's ongoing ICE detention.

Khalil – a lawful permanent resident – has been locked up at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center since his March 8 arrest without a warrant in New York City. A prominent member of Columbia's Palestine liberation movement, he was targeted by the Trump administration for deportation due to his activism.

Ahead of his arrest, the pro-Israel doxxing site Canary Mission posted a profile of Khalil, while the far-right Zionist organization Betar USA included him on its "deport list."

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Betar said it had sent "thousands of names" to the Trump administration for deportation. After Khalil's arrest, the group posted on X, "We told you we have been working on deportations and will continue to do so. Expect naturalized citizens to start being picked up within the month. You heard it here first."

In the days leading up to Khalil's abduction by plainclothes ICE agents, the group Documenting Jew Hatred on Campus called for his deportation in a series of X posts, tagging Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Mahmoud Khalil aims to illuminate US collusion with pro-Israel doxxing groups

A protester holds a "Free Mahmoud Khalil" sign during a march from City College to Columbia University.
A protester holds a "Free Mahmoud Khalil" sign during a march from City College to Columbia University.  © Leonardo Munoz / AFP

Khalil's new FOIA request seeks to illuminate the nature and extent of the Trump administration's collusion with various anti-Palestinian doxxing groups and propaganda sites.

Other noncitizen students who have been arrested for their Palestinian rights activism – including Georgetown University postdoctoral researcher Dr. Badar Khan Suri, Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi, and Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk – were all targeted by pro-Israel doxxing sites before their arrest.

"For years, these anti-Palestinian doxxing groups have served as agents of repression, weaponizing inflammatory rhetoric and conflating criticism of Israel with hate speech in order to chill activism for Palestinian rights," Ayla Kadah, an attorney and justice fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights, said in a press release.

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"Now, evidence seems to point to the Trump administration colluding with them as they escalate their crusade to target noncitizens for detention and deportation, with Mahmoud Khalil serving as their latest target. Mahmoud deserves answers, and so does the public," Kadah added.

US District Judge Michael Farbiarz in New Jersey on Wednesday issued an opinion ruling that Khalil is likely to succeed on the merits of his case challenging his detention.

Cover photo: KENA BETANCUR / AFP

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