The student activist has sued the Trump administration to stop the deportation of those accused of anti-Semitism.
A pro-Palestinian activist and foreign graduate student at Cornell University who sued the Trump administration to stop the deportation of those accused of anti-Semitism has been ordered to surrender to immigration authorities.
The Department of Justice on Friday forwarded a message from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) instructing the student, Momodou Taal, to report to the agency’s Syracuse, New York, office to surrender himself into custody, according to court documents.
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.
Both orders were signed Jan. 29 by President Donald Trump. 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, the prosecution, removal, and other legal action against both citizens and non-citizens engaged in anti-Semitic activities.
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 Gaza. 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.
Taal’s activism has drawn controversy in the past. On Oct. 7, 2023—the day thousands of Hamas-led terrorists attacked Israel in a spree of killing and kidnapping—he
posted “Glory to the resistance!” along with a Palestinian flag on social media platform X.
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 and Boeing, both suppliers of military equipment to Israel. The university
said the disruption involved shoving police officers, threatening recruiters, and preventing 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. However, Taal was ultimately allowed to continue his studies.
The DOJ email was sent just after Taal’s attorneys filed an emergency request for a federal judge in New York to block his arrest or detention, citing concerns over the alleged
presence of unidentified law enforcement officers near his residence. The judge has not yet made a decision on whether to grant a temporary restraining order.
“[Taal’s detainment by ICE] would substantially impede counsel’s ability to directly communicate with Mr. Taal ... and also constitutes an unlawful attempt to remove this Court’s jurisdiction over this case,” Taal’s attorneys told U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Coombe after receiving the DOJ email.
Taal’s case is one of several high-profile cases of deportation efforts associated with the pro-Palestinian protests that erupted at colleges and universities.
Last week, judges
blocked the deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and
protest leader; and Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown University postdoctoral fellow. Federal officials have informally accused Khalil of engaging in “activities aligned with Hamas” and Suri of “spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media,” as well as having “close connections” to an unnamed Hamas advisor.
In each case, immigration authorities have invoked a provision of U.S. immigration law that
allows for the deportation of foreign nationals if the 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.
