Mahmoud Khalil sues Trump administration for communications that he said led to his arrest

Mahmoud Khalil, the pro-Palestinian activist who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at his Columbia University-owned apartment back in March after leading protests, is suing the Trump administration. 

Khalil is seeking the Trump administration's communications with what he described as anti-Palestinian organizations ahead of his March arrest. 

Khalil claims he was doxxed by these online groups, and says they falsely tied him to terrorism and antisemitism. He claims federal agencies like ICE then used that information to arrest him. 

"For months, shady organizations and individuals carried out a smear and harassment campaign designed to intimidate and silence me," Khalil said. "The public deserves full accountability for every bad actor who helped make that possible, including those at Columbia who fabricated and amplified these smears and opened the door for state retaliation against Palestinian speech."   

Khalil is a legal U.S. citizen. He was released from ICE detention in June. He's still fighting the Trump administration's attempt to deport him. 

CBS News New York has reached out to the White House for comment, but has not yet heard back. 

Khalil is also suing the the Trump administration for $20 million in damages, claiming he was falsely imprisoned, maliciously prosecuted and smeared. He was held in Louisiana for more than three months while the Trump administration tried to deport him. 

His case is still playing out.

"It's retaliation against freedom of expression, against dissent from what this administration or the establishment of this country want us to speak about," he previously told CBS News New York's Dick Brennan.