Above photo: Momodou Taal speaking at a protest at Cornell University. Casey Martin / The Ithaca Voice.
‘This Fight Is Bigger Than Me, And We Can’t Afford To Lose It.’
In an interview with Mondoweiss, Momodou Taal discusses the threat of deportation for his Palestine activism, Cornell’s cooperation with the government crackdown on free speech, and what is at stake in his fight against the Trump administration.
On March 19, 2025, Momodou Taal was supposed to walk into a federal courtroom for the first hearing of his lawsuit against the Trump administration and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The landmark case would put a temporary hold on the rampant deportations we’ve seen in the last month of foreign students who have spoken out in support of Palestinians against U.S.-funded Israeli genocide. However a day before the case was supposed to begin in court, DHS issued a deportation order for Taal.
The deportation order, which appeared to come in direct retaliation for his outspoken support for Palestine and his participation in campus protests, escalated his case to a critical level while garnering national attention.
His story however is not just one of individual persecution; it is a grim reflection of the lengths to which the U.S. government is willing to go to silence pro-Palestine voices and crush any semblance of free speech or academic freedom in the process.
A British-Gambian PhD student at Cornell University, Taal has been fighting against brazen harassment, racist slander, surveillance, and university-aided attacks for nearly a year now.
Taal has been barred from Cornell’s campus since September 2024, long before the Trump administration’s assault began. Cornell’s official justification for his expulsion was that his activism—specifically, disrupting a career fair to protest the presence of Zionist arms manufacturers—had created a “hostile environment for Jewish students.”
The situation then spiraled even more once the Trump administration entered office and issued a pair of executive orders in January 2025 to “combat campus anti-semitism”, targeting universities and international students deemed to be “threats” for engaging in what the government vaguely labels as “anti-Semitic harassment.” As a result, students like Taal who dared to criticize Israel’s open war crimes found themselves under intense surveillance, facing legal threats and deportation.
On Friday, March 21, Taal’s legal team filed a motion for a federal judge to halt the deportation order, arguing that it was politically motivated and would hinder the legal proceedings of the case. In response, the judge ordered DHS and the Trump administration to justify its deportation order against the Cornell PhD student, with a deadline of Saturday, March 22 by 5 p.m.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), under Trump’s orders, turned in their justification several hours late, something which under normal circumstances would tip any case positively toward the plaintiffs. Inside their filings, they argue that Taal’s deportation order actually took effect the day before his lawsuit was filed, claiming that while Taal’s lawsuit was filed on March 15, they’d coincidentally revoked his visa and began deportation proceedings on March 14. This assertion is both dubious and strategic, as the timeline presented in court proceedings appears to contradict Taal’s assertion that his deportation was politically motivated and made in retaliation to his lawsuit.
“They clearly want to detain me before I’m able to speak in court,” Taal told Mondoweiss. “The deportation order is a direct retaliation for the lawsuit challenging these executive orders.”
The Trump administration’s alleged grounds for Taal’s deportation are equally dubious. The government argues that Taal’s (fully legal) participation in a protest at a September 2024 career fair at Cornell University, where weapons manufacturers were recruiting, “created a hostile environment for Jewish students”, violating their rights. This assertion is as laughable as it is infuriating. “If Black students said they felt unsafe because of racist speakers or known white supremacists on campus, or because our university was collaborating with forces committing genocide, the administration wouldn’t even blink,” Taal pointed out.
The government’s argument boils down to insisting that criticizing Israel constituted a threat to campus safety and Jewish student well being, even though the protest in question was both legal and peaceful. “It’s clear that my activism is being criminalized, not my actions,” Taal continued, highlighting how the Trump administration’s crackdown is not about public safety but rather about maintaining political loyalty to Israel.
Dissent, Retaliation, And Academia
At the heart of this case is a sweeping crackdown on Palestine solidarity activism, where international students are being criminalized and deported for their political speech. Since the Zionists began their genocide campaign against the Palestinians on October 7, 2023, universities have been a beacon of both constant uprising and protest, and egregious repression of dissent. Millions of students worldwide have taken to their campuses to protest, some joined by faculty, and battles surrounding free speech, academic freedom, alleged antisemitism, and speaking out against genocide have ensued.
Last summer tens of thousands of students across over 50 universities nationwide began encampments and building occupations on their campuses, a tactic that calls back to the original anti-Apartheid movement against South African Apartheid. While the encampments themselves garnered many headlines, the crackdown following received tacitly less attention; at least 3,100 student and faculty protesters faced arrests, some of which were extremely violent such as seen at Emory University in Atlanta; other students have faced ongoing harassment campaigns from Zionists and, most recently, a wave of students have faced deportations, expulsions, rescinding of their degrees, and harsh punishment.
Within his first weeks in office, Trump signed two executive orders targeting pro-Palestine protesters as “foreign threats,” using vague accusations of “terrorism” and “anti-Semitism” to justify surveillance, arrests, and deportations, continuing a trend of supporting genocide started under Biden.
Taal’s lawsuit, filed with the support of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), directly challenges Trump’s executive orders as unconstitutional and discriminatory.
“We anticipated some serious backlash, but not to this extent,” Taal tells Mondoweiss. “We thought that in a country that prides itself on the so-called rule of law, that claims to govern the world based on law and democracy, the courts would intervene before ICE and the FBI started showing up at people’s houses.”
Just days after filing the lawsuit, ICE agents (and FBI agents according to some student reports) appeared at Taal’s campus residence to demand his immediate surrender and detain him, even as his legal team sought a restraining order to halt deportation. Taal described the experience as surreal: “I thought they’d at least wait for a court decision before trying to snatch me up. Instead, they’ve acted like ICE was Trump’s personal Gestapo.”
As shocking as this is, the stakes of this case extend far beyond Taal and one student’s deportation. It’s about the precedent that has now been set for using immigration enforcement as a political weapon.
Trump’s executive orders are specifically designed to create a chilling effect on pro-Palestine activism, but they also pave the way for criminalizing dissent more broadly. And what’s happening to Taal is not an anomaly; it’s a deliberate strategy of repression aimed at silencing movements that challenge any form of U.S. imperialism. The executive orders in question, EO 14161 and EO 14188, were crafted explicitly to provide cover for this kind of political persecution.
If this crackdown is allowed to continue, it will set a dangerous precedent that makes all radical and revolutionary activism vulnerable to state violence.
Just as Trump’s orders have targeted pro-Palestine students, they can be extended to target any movement deemed “subversive” to U.S. interests. And this doesn’t occur in a vacuum: we’ve already witnessed activists with the Uhuru 3 accused of being ‘foreign agents’ and facing federal charges, Stop Cop City protesters in Atlanta facing domestic terrorism charges, and students like Mahmoud Khalil’s simple presence in the U.S. creates “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences,”without a shred of evidence.
That cases such as Taal’s or Khalil’s are taking place within the context of academia makes it even more critical, because it calls into question notions of academic freedom and the role the universities have played in supporting the government’s crackdown on anti-genocide dissent. Universities like Cornel, Columbia, and Harvard have effectively shamefully supported the Israeli genocide by aiding the state in their crackdown on student activists and protests.
Throughout this ordeal, Taal has received virtually no support from Cornell’s administration. While a few faculty members have stood by him, Cornell’s leadership has remained silent, unwilling to challenge the federal government’s overreach.
“They put the target on my back originally by attempting to criminalize pro-Palestine protests on campus and treating me as a criminal,” Taal said. “They cooperated with Trump’s orders, and then they just left me to deal with it alone. It’s not just capitulation to fascism—it’s active facilitation of fascism.”
The role of universities facilitating this crackdown on dissent against genocide is quite brazen in the disturbing case of Columbia University, where federal agents appeared twice in one week, pressuring the administration to comply with Trump’s ultimatum targeting pro-Palestine activists. Under threat of losing federal funding, Columbia swiftly followed government demands, suspending and expelling dozens of students involved in recent protests and revoking the degrees of at least three graduates accused of supporting “terrorist organizations” through their activism.
The administration’s willingness to fold under pressure has sparked outrage among students and faculty, who see this as a blatant attack on academic freedom and a dangerous precedent for government overreach on campuses nationwide. Others have wondered the extent of this crackdown; will curriculum now have to be carefully overlooked and approved, as we’re seeing take place at local K-12 school boards in response to “DEI” battles? Will graduate and PhD students need to be vetted by government agencies? Will entire departments related to aspects of foreign policy, global histories, and political science be cut for fear of controversy?
Since his suspension, Taal has been barred from Cornell’s campus entirely. He can’t attend or teach his classes, access the library or academic facilities needed to complete his PhD, or even enter prayer spaces for Muslim students. “It’s a kind of academic and social exile,” he tells Mondoweiss. “As a Black man, being segregated and surveilled by my own university, being told I’m a ‘danger’ to campus safety, hits hard. They even drew a map of where myself and another student, Amandla, couldn’t go on campus.”
Taal notes an irony in the fact he and others protesting an Apartheid state are now being subjected to Apartheid-like segregation, on a campus that boasts its alleged “liberal values.” The hope is that any voices challenging not just Israel’s genocide, but the role and function of neoliberal universities in aiding the genocide, are squashed.
This isolation has created trauma and stress, as one would imagine, which Taal feels was intended by the university administration in order to ‘wear him down.’ Despite the trauma and stress, Taal remains steadfast in his commitment to the cause.
“Seeing what Palestinians are going through in Gaza, how could I stay silent? You would have to be dead inside, no soul, to not speak out. If the choice is between being quiet and watching genocide happen or speaking up and risking deportation, I’m going to speak up every time.”
Continuing Support And Solidarity
This level of repression is not just about intimidating student activists—it’s about sending a message to anyone who would dare challenge the U.S. government’s unwavering support for Israel. Taal’s mental and emotional health have taken a hit, but he knows his struggle is part of something much larger. “I know it’s scary, but the cost of silence is far greater. The more we find the courage to speak out, the less they can do to us. There really is strength in numbers.”
On Thursday, March 20, hundreds of Cornell students and allies gathered on campus for an emergency rally demanding an end to the attacks on Momodou Taal, chanting “Hands Off Momodou!” and holding signs that read “Solidarity with Palestine” and “No Deportations for Activism.” The protest, organized by student groups and community members, was a powerful show of resistance against the Trump administration’s attempts to silence pro-Palestine voices. Demonstrators called on the university to publicly condemn the deportation order and stand with Taal, actions which would signal the university carse to protect academic freedom against political repression.
The outpouring of solidarity has not been limited to Cornell. Across the country, activists and students are mobilizing to defend those targeted by Trump’s crackdown. Ongoing legal battles continue for Mahmoud Khalil at Columbia University, Rasha Alawieh at the University of Michigan, and Badar Khan Suri at Georgetown University—all of whom have been targeted for their pro-Palestine activism. In just a few days, a petition in support of Mahmoud Khalil garnered over 3 million signatures. Community groups and legal advocates are working tirelessly to challenge the deportation orders and expose the blatant political motivations behind them.
The movement knows that if Taal and others are deported in direct response to their Palestinian solidarity, it will mark a stark development chapter in the U.S. government’s war on anti-Zionist dissent. It leaves us to ask, who is next? His story is not just a cautionary tale—it has become a rallying cry.
As Taal put it, “They want us isolated and scared. But as cliche as it may sound, if we come together and refuse to back down, they can’t disappear us all.”
With updates to the case happening on an hour-by-hour basis, and a federal agency weaponized to detain Taal before he can even have his day in court, this case also marks a decisive shift in U.S. academia. If universities that we once viewed as powerful institutions such as Columbia and Cornell are rapidly brought to their knees, other institutions and individuals may stand less of a chance without a robust solidarity movement surrounding them.
But perhaps most importantly to note, the shift has already taken place in many ways: universities nationwide have already spent over a year colluding with, running cover, and manufacturing consent for both the Zionist genocide of Palestinians and the U.S. government facilitating the genocide. The appearance of university liberalism, the university as some beacon of critical thinking and free thought, has been largely shattered by its own complicity.
Momodou Taal’s case could represent the final nail in the coffin of the university as we know it. Community members, students, and faculty alike are aware of what’s at stake here; local organizers have called for Taal’s supporters to ‘Pack The Court’ in Syracuse, NY for the first hearing in the case this Tuesday, March 25, and hundreds are expected to show up.
If the deportation order stands, Taal could be deported at any moment—his voice silenced before he even gets his day in court. If the order is halted by a judge, Trump’s ICE appears poised to ignore the ruling and still pursue Taal’s detainment. Within this catch-22, there is the university responsible for failing to stand up for its students against Zionist slander and attacks, which led to this moment.
But regardless of the outcome, Taal’s courage should inspire us to confront not only Trump’s crackdown on academic freedom but the broader machinery of imperial repression that targets anyone daring to speak the truth.
As Taal told Mondoweiss in closing, “We can’t let fear win. We’ve got to show them that we’re not going anywhere. This fight is bigger than me, and we can’t afford to lose it.”
Editor’s Note: Cornell University did not respond to comment on this story.
D. Musa Springer is a cultural worker, community organizer, and independent researcher. You can follow them on Twitter at @HalfAtlanta.