Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in March and held for more than 100 days despite being a lawful permanent resident, is suing the Trump administration for refusing to release records of its communications with shadowy pro-Israel organisations and individuals, the news outlet Zeteo reported Thursday.

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

Khalil, a Columbia University graduate, is a lawful permanent resident married to a US citizen. He was detained in March without a warrant by immigration officers in New York City and transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana, where he was held for months.

He was the first of several foreign students targeted by the Trump administration for criticising Israel and expressing support for Palestine.

In July, court proceedings revealed that ICE relied on information from Canary Mission and Betar — two of the pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian, anti-speech doxxing groups — to generate leads on students, including Khalil.