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A pro-Hamas student activist at Cornell University has decided to depart from the United States following an unsuccessful legal challenge against the Trump administration.
Momodou Taal, a 31-year-old dual citizen of Britain and Gambia pursuing Africana Studies at Cornell, had his student visa revoked by the State Department on March 14. He was subsequently instructed to report to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The following day, Taal joined two other plaintiffs in filing legal action against President Donald Trump, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and Secretary Kristi Noem. Their lawsuit challenged two Trump executive orders targeting foreign nationals in the U.S. who demonstrate antagonistic attitudes toward American values and engage in anti-Semitic behavior on college campuses.
The plaintiffs contended that these executive orders infringed upon constitutional free speech rights. Taal sought both a suspension of the executive orders and intervention in his immigration case.
BREAKING: Cornell student Momodou Taal, citizen of the UK and The Gambia, who posted about his hatred of America and his hopes for its destruction, has self deported from the U.S. after being ordered to surrender to ICE https://t.co/4o5uR5etmt pic.twitter.com/L9f577RbMw
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 1, 2025
Last Thursday, Judge Elizabeth Coombe, appointed by Biden, rejected both requests.
Following this legal setback, Taal announced his departure from the U.S. Through social media on Monday, he stated, “Today I took the decision to leave the United States, free and with my head held high.”
His departure statement included criticism of the American government, asserting, “Trump did not want me to have my day in court.”
“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 wrote. “I have lost faith I could walk the streets without being abducted.”
He further criticized the American legal system, warning that “We are facing a government that has no respect for the judiciary or for the rule of the law.”
Cornell University’s records paint a different picture of Taal’s conduct. According to a university letter from last April, he repeatedly engaged in disruptive behavior, ignored official directives, and accessed restricted areas without authorization.
Today the United States has just become a little safer as Momodou Taal self deported. This is an important moment in the shifting of the tide on campuses across America. If you threaten America, you are not welcome pic.twitter.com/vNkejWFVcX
— Betar Worldwide (@Betar_USA) April 1, 2025
ICE’s Counterterrorism Intelligence Unit chief Roy Stanley provided a sworn statement indicating that Taal faced multiple suspensions due to disorderly conduct and disregard for others’ rights, resulting in a temporary campus ban during one suspension review.
Following the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, Taal made several pro-Hamas statements. On social media, he posted “Glory to the Resistance” and declared that “colonised peoples have the right to resist by any means necessary.”
He told the Cornell Daily Sun: “We are in solidarity with the armed resistance in Palestine from the river to the sea.”
When challenged to condemn Hamas’s tactics, Taal responded by alleging discrimination: “I think it’s quite racist, Islamophobic that before I’m allowed to have a view on genocide, I have to condemn a terrorist organization,” though he did state he condemned “the killing of all civilians no matter where they are and who does it.”
While Taal’s attorney, Eric Lee, didn’t respond to CNN’s request for comment about his client’s departure, he expressed disappointment on social media, writing, “I feel like a stranger in my country. What is America if people like Momodou are not welcome here? Onward to the next fight.”
