Momodou Taal, a Cornell University student who was recently asked to surrender to Immigration and Customs Enforcement after he sued President Donald Trump in the wake of the crackdown on international students, claimed that he has left the country on his own terms as he had lost faith. A doctoral candidate in African Studies, Momodou Taal is a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and the Gambia. He praised the October 7 attack of the Hamas on Israel. He tweeted “colonised peoples have the right to resist by any means necessary” and “Glory to the resistance!”
Taal’s student visa was revoked because of his involvement in “disruptive protests”. He was suspended last fall for the same and was studying remotely for this semester.
“I have lost faith I could walk the streets without being abducted,” Taal said on X. “Weighing up these options, I took the decision to leave on my own terms.”
CNN reported that the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Taal would be moving with self-deportation.
“It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live & study in the United States of America,” the official said in a statement. “When you advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country.”
Taal was told to surrender to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to a court filing made shortly after he asked a judge to preemptively order the government not to deport him. On Thursday, US District Judge Elizabeth Coombe rejected his request. She also rejected his request to halt the enforcement of two presidential executive orders that spurred a recent crackdown on international students who, like him, have been involved in pro-Palestinian activism.
“I feel like a stranger in my country. What is America if people like Momodou are not welcome here?” Taal’s attorney Eric Lee posted in X as Taal decided not to pursue the case and leave the country.
