Pro-Palestinian Cornell student to leave US after officials asked for surrender

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By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Cornell University student who participated in pro-Palestinian protests and was asked to surrender by U.S. immigration officials said on Monday he was leaving the United States, citing fear of detention and threats to his personal safety.

Momodou Taal, a doctoral candidate in Africana Studies and dual citizen of the UK and The Gambia, has participated in pro-Palestinian protests against Israel’s war in Gaza following an October 2023 Hamas attack. His attorneys said last month that he was asked to turn himself in and that his student visa was being revoked.

President Donald Trump has pledged to deport foreign pro-Palestinian protesters and accused them of supporting Hamas, being antisemitic and posing foreign policy hurdles.

Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the Trump administration wrongly conflates their criticism of Israel and support for Palestinian rights with antisemitism and support for militant group Hamas.

Last year, Taal was in a group of activists who disrupted a career fair on campus that featured weapons manufacturers and the university thereafter ordered him to study remotely. He previously posted online that “colonised peoples have the right to resist by any means necessary.”

Taal filed a lawsuit in mid-March to block deportations of protesters, a bid that was denied by a judge last week.

“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 on X.

OTHER CASES

Trump’s administration has attempted to crack down on pro-Palestinian voices. Rights advocates condemn the moves.

Columbia University protester Mahmoud Khalil was arrested in early March and is legally challenging his detention. Trump, without evidence, accused Khalil of supporting Hamas. Khalil denies links to the militant group that Washington considers a “foreign terrorist organization.”

Badar Khan Suri, an Indian studying at Georgetown University, was detained earlier in March. Suri’s lawyer denies he supported Hamas. A federal judge barred Suri’s deportation.

The legal team of Yunseo Chung, a Korean American Columbia University student, said last week her lawful permanent resident status was being revoked. A judge ruled she cannot be detained for now.

A judge on Friday temporarily barred the deportation of a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University named Rumeysa Ozturk, who was taken into custody by immigration officials and who, a year ago, co-authored an opinion piece calling to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide.”

The Trump administration says it may have revoked over 300 visas.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)