Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate, has filed a lawsuit against his alma mater, alongside seven other unnamed individuals, to block the university from handing over student activists’ personal information to lawmakers in Washington.
The lawsuit, filed on Thursday, is a response to a request from the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, led by Rep.
Tim Walberg, which demanded disciplinary records from students involved in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
Khalil, who holds a green card and is a lawful permanent US resident, was arrested over the weekend and is currently being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Louisiana.
He has not been charged with any crime, but the Trump administration claims that Khalil poses a threat to US international policy interests, justifying the potential revocation of his green card by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the government’s attempt to deport Khalil.
The new lawsuit is a direct response to the letter from the House Committee, which has accused Columbia of failing to protect Jewish students, a claim that Khalil’s legal team believes is being used to suppress free speech and target Palestinian and Arab students.
Khalil and other student activists, who participated in peaceful protests, argue that complying with the House Committee’s request would result in the release of sensitive personal information.
This could expose hundreds of students, faculty, and staff to harassment, threats, and doxing, they contend.
The lawsuit also includes a warning that non-compliance could result in a loss of federal funding, with the Trump administration threatening to withhold $400 million in grants from the university.
Khalil’s legal team further claims that the committee is using accusations of antisemitism to attack ideas that they ideologically oppose, accusing them of spreading anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and Islamophobic rhetoric.
Khalil, who acted as a liaison between the protesters and the university administration during the protests, started receiving threats prior to his arrest. He volunteered to speak to the media and became a prominent figure in the student protest movement.
The lawsuit names several parties, including Columbia University, Rep. Walberg, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Columbia’s board of trustees, and Barnard College, among others.
