Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil is suing to block Columbia University from providing a congressional committee with records of disciplinary actions stemming from last year’s campus protests.
In a complaint filed on Thursday in Manhattan, Khalil, along with seven other Columbia students, seeks a federal court order that would prevent the university from sharing the information with the House Education and Workforce Committee. While Khalil is named in the lawsuit, the other students are not publicly identified.
The students argue that the committee’s request infringes upon their First Amendment rights and violates the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a federal law that governs how schools and colleges handle student information.
“The coercive effect of the Committee’s actions is very real,” the complaint stated, pointing to recent federal repercussions faced by the university, including a four-agency initiative to revoke $400 million in funding. “Entities like the university feel pressure to cooperate with the government in its efforts to chill and punish protected speech.”
On Feb. 13, the Republican-led committee sent a letter to Columbia administrators, accusing the university of failing to fulfill its obligation to protect Jewish students from anti-Semitic harassment. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), who wrote the letter, criticized the university’s disciplinary process and said it failed to enforce pre-existing anti-harassment rules.
“Columbia’s continued failure to address the pervasive antisemitism that persists on campus is untenable, particularly given that the university receives billions in federal funding,” he wrote.
The congressman gave the university until Feb. 27 to turn over the documents, specifically the records related to disciplinary measures and investigations between April 2024 and January 2025, including the takeover of Hamilton Hall during the spring 2024 semester.
The university and the committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In a separate case, Khalil’s attorneys have petitioned a federal judge to release him from immigration detention in Louisiana. They argue that his arrest and the ongoing effort to deport him are a violation of his First Amendment rights.
Khalil, 30, a Syrian national of Palestinian descent, recently graduated from Columbia University’s master’s program. He became a prominent figure in campus protests following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Israel and the ensuing Israeli offensive in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
Khalil was arrested at his home on March 9, as part of an operation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to implement President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at holding perpetrators of unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence accountable.
“Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” the DHS alleged.
Khalil has so far not been charged with any terrorism-related offenses. Instead, the DHS invoked an immigration law that allows for the deportation of foreign nationals if the U.S. Secretary of State has good reason to believe their presence or activities in the United States pose “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” to the country.
In response to a news article about Khalil’s arrest, Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X: “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
From The Epoch Times
