By Afp
NEW YORK: One of the leading leaders of pro-Palestinian protests on US university campuses, Mahmoud Khalil, filed a $20 million lawsuit against President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday, following his detention and arrest by immigration agents.
Khalil, 30, who is a legal permanent resident of the US and is married to a US citizen and has a child born in the country, has been detained since March and was released last month from a federal immigration detention center in Louisiana.
According to the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents Khalil, the lawsuit claims the US government has implemented an illegal plan to arrest, detain and deport Khalil in a manner designed to intimidate him and his family.
The suit also states that Khalil suffered severe emotional distress, economic hardship and damage to his reputation.
Khalil, a graduate of Columbia University, is known as a key figure in the wave of student protests against US support for Israel's war in Gaza.
The Trump administration previously labeled Khalil a threat to national security.
Khalil previously stated that while in detention, he was locked up with more than 70 other men, without any privacy and with the lights constantly on.
Meanwhile, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, defended the Trump administration's actions, saying it acted within its legal and constitutional authority to detain Khalil, as it does with foreign nationals who support terrorism.
Source : Pro-Palestine-protest-leader-sues-Trump-administration-for-US$20-million