Mahmoud Khalil is suing the Trump administration for $20 million. The 30-year-old Columbia University graduate and green card holder, whom Immigration and Customs Enforcement took as a political prisoner in March, gained his freedom just last month.
On March 8, plainclothed agents ripped Khalil from his Manhattan apartment and his wife, who was then eight months pregnant, and sent him to an ICE detention center in Louisiana.
Khalil remained there for over three months. All the while, the Trump administration taunted and baselessly smeared him as “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, [and] anti-American,” while admitting outright that it was seeking to deport him solely for his beliefs. Still, the Trump administration continues its vendetta, alleging that Khalil improperly filled out his green card application, a claim his attorneys challenge and are seeking to dismiss.
Having returned to his wife and newborn son, Khalil is seeking damages for the ordeal the Trump administration has subjected him to. Khalil’s attorneys on Thursday filed a claim for $20 million, in a claim that names the Departments of State and Homeland Security and ICE.
According to the Associated Press, the filing takes the administration to task for its campaign to “terrorize him and his family,” including having “effectively kidnapped him,” before sending him to a remote prison “deliberately concealed” from his family and lawyers, where he endured harsh conditions, was denied his medication, and lost 15 pounds for having been fed “nearly inedible” food.
Regarding the possibility of a settlement, Khalil said he would share the money with other pro-Palestinian advocates Trump is attempting to silence, but would also accept an apology from his administration and a change to its deportation policy.
In light of the news, the Trump administration remains steadfast in its harassment campaign against Khalil, telling the AP that his claim is “absurd” and accusing him of “hateful behavior and rhetoric.”
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