Above photo: Chris Godshall-Bennett, Legal Director of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), addresses protesters at Cornell University.
Ahead of Court Hearing on Trump’s Free Speech Crackdowns.
Ithaca, N.Y. — Days after filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration that challenges the constitutionality of two executive orders that violate free speech, Cornell graduate student Momodou Taal has said that he is being watched by federal agents who could be looking to detain and potentially deport him before he can make his case in court on Tuesday.
“This morning, shortly after a federal judge scheduled a hearing in my lawsuit demanding the courts strike down Trump’s executive orders attacking free speech, law enforcement from an unidentified agency came to my home in Ithaca, New York,” Taal said in a social media post on Wednesday, March 19. “Trump is attempting to detain me to prevent me from having my day in court. Trump does not want me to present my arguments challenging his actions. This is part of a continued pattern in the Trump administration’s flagrant disregard for the judiciary.”
Taal said he was initially scheduled to appear in court in Syracuse on March 19, but the hearing was rescheduled to Tuesday, March 25. It remains unclear if the delay had anything to do with law enforcement’s surveillance of Taal.
When asked about the credibility of reports that federal agents could be trying to detain Taal before he can make his case against Trump in court, immigration attorney Eric Lee, who represents Taal, said, “Those reports are very credible.”
As a result, Lee said the legal team filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prevent any enforcement action before the case is heard in court. He added that if the court grants the TRO and federal agents still proceed with detaining Taal, the situation would escalate to a violation of the court’s order, which would create an opportunity for additional legal action.
However, the Justice Department responded to the motion for a TRO by sending an email to Taal’s legal team requesting that he “surrender” to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “at a mutually agreeable time [to be served a] notice to appear” — the first step in the formal deportation process.
Lee responded to the email in a statement on social media, “This does not happen in a democracy. We are outraged, and every American should be too.” He added, “We urge the population to defend the right to freedom of speech against the urgent threat of dictatorship by exercising that right actively and vigorously.”
While Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the federal government “will continue to cancel the visas of those whose presence or activities have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for our country” — Taal’s legal team has said that his visa has not been revoked.
In response to the threats against Taal’s due process rights the Cornell Collective for Justice in Palestine (CCJP) organized an emergency protest on March 20 calling on Cornell students, faculty and the local community to rally in support of Taal.
“Momodou has never been charged with a crime; he is being targeted for protected political speech and for his prominence as an activist who has been covered extensively by national and international media outlets,” said the CCJP statement announcing the protest. “We cannot let this happen to Momodou or other international students at Cornell.”
During the protest, Lee said, “Our lawsuit is a challenge to the constitutionality of these executive orders…Trump has criminalized all criticism of the U.S. government by non-citizens and opened up citizens who criticize the State of Israel to potential criminal prosecution.” Lee continued, “Criticizing the American government is the most core democratic right you can have. If that is taken away from you, then everything else is gone.” He added, “This is an assault on democracy itself.”
Chris Godshall-Bennett, Legal Director of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and co-counsel on the case condemned the administration’s targeting of activists.
“The pretext being used to intimidate and incarcerate people like Momodou and Mahmoud Khalil is my safety as a Jewish person, and I reject that fundamentally,” Godshall-Bennett said. “This is not about safety. This is about silencing dissent. We need to stand up now before it’s too late.”
International Labor Relations (ILR) Professor Risa Lieberwitz, President of Cornell’s American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Chapter, called on the university to refuse compliance with the executive orders and to publicly defend Taal and other students under threat.
“The Trump administration is trying to dismantle all democratic institutions, and like other fascists, they start with universities,” Lieberwitz said. “Cornell cannot capitulate to this. We must stand firm and refuse to be complicit in these unconstitutional actions.”
In response to the threat for Taal to surrender to ICE, Lee and Godshall-Bennett released a joint statement, saying, “This is an unlawful attempt to deny Momodou Taal and his two U.S.-citizen co-plaintiffs the right to access the courts. It aims to block the judicial branch from fulfilling its constitutional duty to scrutinize the legality of presidential actions. If Trump succeeds at violating these core democratic principles in Mr. Taal’s case, it will set a precedent that applies to everyone.” They added, “This is not normal. In a democratic society, agents do not show up at your doorstep or demand you surrender to law enforcement for filing a lawsuit. We are outraged, and every American should be too.”
Taal’s case is part of a broader wave of arrests and detainments targeting student activists. Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian green cardholder and former Columbia University student, was recently detained without charges and transferred to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Louisiana, where he has been prevented from speaking to his legal team.
Since then, several other students and faculty members at universities across the country have been detained and threatened with deportation despite never having been criminally charged or given their right to due process — which protects citizens and non-citizens from government abuse.
However, the Trump administration has already violated the due process rights of 200 undocumented men by deporting them to a detention facility in El Salvador based on unsubstantiated allegations that they were members of the Venezuelan gang Ten De Aragua. Despite a federal judge ordering the deportation flights to not take place, the Trump administration ignored the order, resulting in hundreds of people being deported without ever being given a trial.
Protesters at Cornell vowed to continue organizing to prevent further attacks on academic freedom and political expression.
“The federal government wants to intimidate us, to make an example out of people like Momodou and Mahmoud Khalil,” Lee said. “But it’s up to all of us to resist. This is about more than one student—this is about protecting the fundamental freedoms of every person in this country.”
In response to questions regarding how the community can best support Taal in his case, Lee and Goodshall-Bennett called for continued public demonstrations but warned that harboring an individual facing arrest by ICE could lead to criminal charges under federal law.
“It is a federal crime to interfere in ICE’s ability to effectuate an arrest warrant,” Lee said. “If someone is targeted and you try to hide them, that could bring criminal prosecution.” He added, “We have to be careful while we fight this.”
Lee also confirmed that prior Trump executive orders have rescinded protections that once prevented ICE actions in churches and schools — meaning Cornell’s campus and other local schools and churches — are no longer “safe” spaces.
“We are in emergency times,” Goodshall-Bennett said. “We have to use every legal tool we have, but we also have to be ready to mobilize in mass numbers. If they take Momodou, they’ll take others. We have to stop this before it escalates further.”