Khalil v. The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York

Between April 17, 2024, and January 2025, Mahmoud Khalil, then a graduate student at Columbia University, participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus during a broader wave of student protests related to the Israel-Gaza conflict. During that period, Columbia University and Barnard College investigated and imposed disciplinary measures on multiple students in connection with protest activity, including building occupations and disruptions of university operations.

Khalil’s legal matters entered multiple forums in early 2025. On March 8, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Khalil, a lawful permanent resident, in New York and placed him in immigration detention. The government initiated removal proceedings, alleging that his continued presence in the United States was subject to removal under immigration laws. Less than a week later, on March 13, 2025, Khalil and seven current Columbia students filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against Columbia University and Barnard College. The complaint sought declaratory and injunctive relief and $20 million in damages, and sought to prevent the universities from producing student disciplinary records in response to requests from the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce and related congressional inquiries. The plaintiffs alleged that disclosure of the records would violate the First Amendment and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

The district court intervened later that month. On March 20, 2025, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring Columbia and Barnard from turning over the requested disciplinary records while the legal issues were considered. That restraint was later narrowed. In a ruling issued on April 4, 2025, the court concluded that Columbia was required to comply with a narrower request from a Senate committee seeking disciplinary records limited to pro-Palestinian protest activity occurring between April 2024 and January 2025, while the broader House request remained unresolved.

Khalil’s immigration case proceeded separately. In May 2025, an immigration judge ordered him removed from the United States, and the Department of Homeland Security stated that he was likely to be deported to Algeria. Khalil appealed the removal order. He spent 104 days in immigration detention in Louisiana before being released on June 20, 2025, when a federal judge in Newark granted him bond, finding that the government had not established that he posed a danger to the community or a risk to national security.

On January 15, 2026, a federal appeals court reversed the Newark judge’s bond order, concluding that the court lacked jurisdiction to grant release while immigration proceedings remained pending. Khalil continued to challenge the removal order and remained subject to possible deportation.

On July 14, 2026, Khalil filed a separate federal civil rights lawsuit against senior Trump administration officials and private organizations, alleging that they conspired to target him and other pro-Palestinian advocates because of their political speech and activism.

On September 14, 2026, Khalil, the SIPA Palestine Working Group, and its president, Mohammad Zubairi, filed a new federal civil rights lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against Columbia University and university officials. In Khalil v. The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, the plaintiffs alleged that Columbia was deliberately indifferent to years of threats, doxxing, and harassment directed at pro-Palestinian students based on their perceived Arab or Muslim ancestry and advocacy for Palestinian rights. The complaint also alleged that Columbia retaliated against students who reported the harassment and sought damages and other relief, including restoration of Khalil’s campus access and the student group’s status.

As of September 2026, Khalil v. The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York remained pending, as did Khalil’s immigration proceedings and his separate federal civil rights action against federal officials and private organizations.