Momodou Taal, a pro-Palestinian activist and international Ph.D student, announced his decision to leave the country on Monday — ending a weeks-long struggle with the federal government that began when he sued the Trump adminstration.
Soon after Taal announced his decision on X and Instagram, his lawyers withdrew his lawsuit in federal court.
Taal first made national news when he, alongside Sriram Parasurama, a Ph.D. student in plant sciences, and Prof. Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ, literatures in English, sued the Trump administration for allegedly violating their First and Fifth Amendment rights. Their suit claimed that the implementation of two Trump executive orders targeted pro-Palestinian speech and dampened dissent.
The U.S. State Department revoked Taal’s F-1 student visa after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement identified him for “disruptive action” on March 14, one day before the lawsuit was filed. Taal would not be notified of the change to his visa status until March 21, according to testimony submitted in court by John Armstrong, senior bureau official for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs.
Almost a week after Taal first sued the Trump Administration, his lawyers were sent an email requesting that he turn himself in to ICE on March 21.
Taals lawyers unsuccessfully tried to challenge this request in court, submitting a motion for a temporary restraining order that would prohibit the government from deporting Taal in accordance with the executive orders that Taal’s lawsuit was challenging. This motion was denied by Judge Elizabeth Coombe of the Northern District of New York on Thursday.
According to the post made to his social media, Taal decided to leave because he stopped believing that the courts would guarantee his personal safety.
“Given what we have seen across the United States, I have lost faith that a favourable ruling from the courts would guarantee my personal safety and ability to express my beliefs,” Taal said. “I have lost faith [that] I could walk the streets without being abducted. Weighing up these options, I took the decision to leave on my own terms.”
Shortly after Coombe denied Taal’s motion, his lawyers filed a new amended complaint and temporary restraining order. However, following Taal’s announcement, his lawyers withdrew the lawsuit altogether, according to a notice of voluntary dismissal submitted to the court.
In a post to X, Taal’s lead counsel, Eric Lee, wrote, “I feel like a stranger in my country. What is America if people like Momodou are not welcome here?”
Reflecting on his choice to leave, Taal wrote on X and Instagram that, “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.”
Benjamin Leynse is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is a News Editor for the 143rd editorial board, and a former senior writer. He can be reached at bleynse@cornellsun.com.
