Khalil Sues Columbia for 'Deliberate Indifference' Leading to ICE Detention

Key points

• Mahmoud Khalil and members of the Palestine Working Group (PWG) filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against Columbia University, its trustees, and SIPA Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo.
• The complaint alleges 'deliberate indifference' to 'severe, persistent, and coordinated harassment,' including doxxing and threats, targeting pro-Palestinian students and those of Arab or Muslim ancestry.
• Khalil claims that Columbia’s failure to act on his repeated requests for protection in the weeks preceding his March 8, 2025, arrest by ICE directly led to his detention and attempted deportation.
• Khalil, a legal permanent resident, was detained for 104 days in 2025, missing the birth of his first child, and was released in June 2025.
• The lawsuit seeks damages, the reinstatement of the PWG (suspended in May 2025), and an injunction preventing future discriminatory actions by the university.
• Columbia University has not issued a formal legal response but released a statement affirming its commitment to protecting its community from discrimination and harassment.

Background

Mahmoud Khalil emerged as a prominent figure in the 2024 campus protest movement, which began at Columbia University in April 2024. He served as a mediator between student protesters and university administration regarding divestment from companies linked to the Israeli military. The protests followed the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza. In 2025, the Trump administration revoked visas for hundreds of students involved in pro-Palestinian activism and withheld federal funding from universities, including Columbia, which paid $221 million in July 2025 to settle claims and restore $400 million in funding. Khalil’s legal battle against deportation has seen mixed results, including a federal judge ruling in his favor in September 2025, an appeals court dismissal in January 2026, and a planned Supreme Court review. The current lawsuit adds to his broader litigation strategy, which includes a $20 million false imprisonment case against the administration.

How outlets are covering it

ABC News emphasizes the legal argument that Columbia’s 'deliberate indifference' enabled the 'coordinated, persistent doxxing' that led to Khalil’s 'illegal detainment' by ICE. Al Jazeera frames the lawsuit as a response to 'institutional racism' and highlights attorney Brittany Finley’s argument that Columbia 'created the conditions that made the detention possible' by fostering an unlawfully discriminatory environment. The Guardian focuses on the 'years-long history' of anti-Palestinian discrimination, noting that harassment began in 2018 but escalated after October 7, 2023, and quotes Khalil’s statement that Columbia 'traded us away' to protect its ideological project. The New York Times highlights the 'deliberate indifference' to threats Khalil reported to administrators, including then-interim president Katrina Armstrong, in the days before his arrest, and notes that the lawsuit is part of a broader pattern of pro-Palestinian students suing Columbia for safety failures. All sources agree on the core allegations of failure to protect and the resulting immigration detention, but differ in emphasis: ABC and NYT focus on the direct link between inaction and the arrest, Al Jazeera emphasizes the systemic nature of the discrimination, and the Guardian highlights the long-term pattern and the university’s alleged ideological motivations.

Why it matters

This lawsuit represents a significant legal challenge to the role of universities in protecting students from politically motivated harassment and immigration enforcement. It tests the limits of institutional liability for failing to address threats that lead to federal action. The case could set a precedent for how universities must respond to reports of harassment targeting students based on their political views or ancestry. It also highlights the intersection of free speech, immigration law, and campus safety in the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict. The outcome could influence future policies at other universities regarding the protection of student activists and the handling of complaints related to political advocacy.

What to watch

Columbia University is expected to file a formal response to the lawsuit in the coming weeks. The case will likely proceed to discovery, where evidence of the alleged harassment and the university’s response (or lack thereof) will be examined. Khalil’s legal team has indicated that more lawsuits may follow, targeting 'hateful individuals at Columbia' responsible for the harassment. The broader legal battle over Khalil’s deportation is expected to reach the US Supreme Court, which could have implications for the rights of international students and the limits of immigration enforcement based on political speech. The outcome of this case could also influence how other universities handle similar complaints and the potential for further litigation from other pro-Palestinian students.