A Palestinian activist who was detained for over three months in a US immigration jail after protesting towards Israel is suing Donald Trump’s administration for $20m (£15m) in damages.
Attorneys for Mahmoud Khalil have filed a declare towards the administration alleging he was falsely imprisoned, maliciously prosecuted and smeared as an antisemite as the federal government sought to deport him over his position in campus protests.
He described “plain-clothed agents and unmarked cars” taking him “from one place to another, expecting you just to follow orders and shackled all the time”, which he stated was “really scary”.
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Mahmoud Khalil reunites with household after launch
Mr Khalil stated he was not offered with an arrest warrant and wasn’t informed the place he was being taken.
He stated the detention centre he was taken to was “as far from humane as it could be” and “a place where you have no rights whatsoever”.
“You share a dorm with over 70 men with no privacy, with lights on all the time, with really terrible food. You’re basically being dehumanised at every opportunity. It’s a black hole,” he added.
Mr Khalil stated he would additionally settle for an official apology from the Trump administration.
The Trump administration celebrated Mr Khalil’s arrest, promising to deport him and others whose protests towards Israel it declared have been “pro-terrorist, antisemitic, anti-American activity”.
Mr Khalil stated after round 36 hours in captivity he was allowed to talk to his spouse, who was pregnant on the time.
“These were very scary hours, I did not know what was happening on the outside. I did not know that my wife was safe,” he stated.
‘Completely absurd allegations’
Mr Khalil stated administration officers had made “absolutely absurd allegations” by saying he as concerned in antisemitic actions and supporting Hamas.
“They are weaponising antisemitism, weaponising anti-terrorism in order to stifle speech,” he stated. “What I was engaged in is simply opposing a genocide, opposing war crimes, opposing Columbia University’s complicity in the war on Gaza.”
A State Division spokesperson stated its actions towards Mr Khalil have been absolutely supported by the regulation.
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Requested about lacking the beginning of his son whereas he was in jail, Mr Khalil stated: “I don’t think there’s any word that can describe the agony and the sadness that I went through, to be deprived from such a divine moment, from a moment that my wife and I had always dreamed about.”
In the meantime, the deportation case towards Mr Khalil is constant to wind its method by way of the immigration courtroom system.
