Cornell Foreign Student Who Sued Trump Admin Self-Deports

U.S. immigration authorities had instructed Momodou Taal to turn himself in.

An entrance sign to Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., on Sept. 1, 2019. Amy Lutz/Shutterstock

A pro-Palestinian activist and foreign graduate student at Cornell University who was facing deportation has said he is voluntarily leaving the United States.

“I have lost faith I could walk the streets without being abducted,” Momodou Taal said in a statement posted to social media platform X on March 31. “Weighing up these options, I took the decision to leave on my own terms.”

Taal, a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and Gambia, is one of three Cornell students who sued on March 15 to challenge a pair of presidential orders signed by President Donald Trump on Jan. 29.

One mandates stricter screening and vetting procedures to prevent individuals deemed national security risks from entering the country. The other calls for, among other things, holding those engaged in “anti-Semitic harassment and violence” accountable.

Taal and his co-plaintiffs argue that the combined effect of these orders is to suppress criticism of the Israeli government and participation in pro-Palestinian advocacy, such as protests against Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip.

In their complaint, Taal’s attorneys contend that he “lives in constant fear that he may be arrested by immigration officials or police as a result of his speech” and is afraid to travel to London to visit his family.

The court filing suggests that the State Department revoked Taal’s F-1 student visa after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) flagged him for “disruptive action” on March 14, the day before the lawsuit was filed. A week later, on March 21, ICE sent Taal’s attorneys an email requesting that he turn himself in.

Taal’s lawyers challenged this request in court, filing a motion for a temporary restraining order to block his arrest or deportation based on the presidential orders at the center of the lawsuit. A federal judge denied the motion, effectively clearing the way for his removal.

Following Taal’s decision to leave the country, his attorneys withdrew the lawsuit.

“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 said in his statement.

A spokesperson for ICE welcomed Taal’s decision to leave voluntarily, emphasizing that it is “a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study” in the United States.

“When you advocate for violence and terrorism, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country,” the spokesperson said in a statement to The Epoch Times.

“We are pleased to confirm that this Cornell University terrorist sympathizer heeded Secretary Noem’s advice to self-deport,” the spokesperson said, referring to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Taal’s pro-Palestinian activism has sparked controversy in the past. On Oct. 7, 2023—the day thousands of Hamas-led terrorists attacked Israel from Gaza in a spree of killing and kidnapping—he posted, “Glory to the resistance!” on X, along with an image of the Palestinian flag.

Cornell first suspended Taal in April 2024 for his role in organizing a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus. He was suspended again in September 2024 after he and other students disrupted a career fair attended by defense contractors L3Harris Technologies and Boeing, both suppliers of military equipment to Israel.

The university stated that the protesters shoved police officers, threatened recruiters, and tried to prevent other students from participating in the fair.

Under F-1 visa regulations, international students who receive two to three suspensions risk having their student visas revoked and being ordered to leave the country. According to court documents, Cornell informed Taal in October 2024 that he faced termination of his F-1.

Following complaints made on Taal’s behalf and a two-week appeals process, the university allowed him to continue his studies but banned him from campus for the rest of the semester.