Pro-Palestinian protester on student visa self deports
Momodou Taal, a 31-year-old doctoral student at cornell University originally from The Gambia and a dual citizen of the UK, has announced his departure from the United States following the revocation of his student visa. Taal’s visa was revoked amid claims of anti-Israel activism, and he was previously suspended from Cornell for protesting. He had challenged the Trump management’s executive orders regarding immigration and foreign advocacy in court, but ultimately decided to leave America after feeling unsafe and unsupported by the government.His case highlights wider tensions surrounding immigration status and political expression, particularly among students engaged in protests. Taal had previously made social media posts that challenged U.S. policies and supported the idea of resistance against perceived injustices. His story points to an environment of fear and uncertainty for international students involved in political activism in the U.S.
Pro-Palestinian protester on student visa among the first to self deport
A Cornell University doctoral student announced on Monday he was leaving the United States weeks after his student visa was revoked.
Momodou Taal, 31, sued the Trump administration in an attempt to reverse his immigration status and avoid turning himself in to Immigration and Customs Enforcement as the agency requested with the March 21 deadline. He is one of several students whose visas have been revoked by the Trump administration over anti-Israel activities and was suspended twice by Cornell last year for refusing to leave a campus encampment.
Taal was pursuing a degree in Africana Studies and is a dual citizen of the U.K. and The Gambia. The day after his visa was revoked, Taal joined fellow doctoral student Sriram Parasurama and Prof. Mukoma wa Ngugi in a lawsuit over President Donald Trump’s executive orders to combat antisemitism and foreign terrorists. The latter ordered immigrants “not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security.”
Long before Taal was granted a student visa, he called for an end to the “U.S. empire” in social media posts that remain on his profile as of Tuesday morning. The day Hamas killed over 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped another 250 in 2023, Taal wrote on X, “Glory to the Resistance.” Still, he had the support of several on-campus organizations, with the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly voting on a resolution that the university protect Taal.
“I have lost faith I could walk the streets without being abducted. Weighing these options, I took the decision to leave on my own terms. This is of course not the outcome I had wanted going into this, but we are facing a government that has no respect for the judiciary or for the rule of the law,” Taal wrote on X Monday. “It is surreal that we live in a world where you get into trouble for saying killing babies is wrong.”
TURKISH TUFTS UNIVERSITY STUDENT THE LATEST DETAINED BY DHS
Taal condemned others who remained silent on the matter, warning, “You are not safe either.” His case follows the arrests of Turkish Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk and Algerian Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, among others. Another student DHS has tried to deport, South Korean Yunseo Chung, has so far legally challenged her own deportation successfully and is not being detained.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended decisions to detain visa holders, reminding them that they are “visitors” and “don’t have a right to be in the United States.” Rubio confirmed that visas would not be granted to a person who is forthcoming about their views that are counter to U.S. foreign policy interests.
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