Cornell student activist chooses to leave US after judge denies bid to immediately block deportation

By Gloria Pazmino and Amanda Musa, CNN

(CNN) — A Cornell University student whose visa was revoked over his participation in pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations has left the United States voluntarily after a judge declined to immediately block the government from taking steps to deport him.

Momodou Taal, a doctoral candidate in Africana Studies, had his student visa revoked due to his involvement in “disruptive protests” and for disregarding university policies and creating a hostile environment for Jewish students, according to US government officials.

“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.”

Eric Lee, an attorney for Taal, confirmed to CNN Taal left the country on Monday.

“I took a decision, it was very abrupt, and I said let me just dip and I did and I made it safely,” Taal said Tuesday on the podcast “The Katie Halper Show.”

Taal, a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and The Gambia, faced criticism for comments made online immediately after the Hamas attack on Israel that left more than 1,200 people dead. He tweeted, “colonised peoples have the right to resist by any means necessary” and “Glory to the resistance!”

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.

“Given what we have seen across the United States, I have lost faith that a favorable ruling from the courts would guarantee my personal safety,” Taal, 31, said in a social media post Monday.

Lee did not elaborate on where Taal had gone when he left the US but posted to X in response to Taal’s decision.

“I feel like a stranger in my country. What is America if people like Momodou are not welcome here?” Lee wrote Monday. “Onward to the next fight.”

A senior official with the Department of Homeland Security previously told CNN that Taal would be moving forward 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 previously faced losing his student visa after he was suspended twice by Cornell last year for alleged disruptive protest activities. He was told that his academic suspension could cause his visa to be revoked, forcing him to leave the US.

In a November 2023 interview with CNN, Taal brushed off complaints about his statements after the October 7, 2023, attack and said he was tired of constantly being asked to condemn Hamas.

“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,” Taal said. “I can say clearly categorically I abhor the killing of all civilians no matter where they are and who does it,” he added.

CNN’s Chris Boyette and Ali Zaslav contributed to this report

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