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Cornell University

Momodou Taal On His Fight Against The Trump Administration

March 25, 2025 D. Musa Springer, Mondoweiss. , , , , ,
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.

Federal Agents Seek Detention Of Cornell Graduate Momodou Taal

March 22, 2025 Matt Dougherty, Ithaca Times. , , , , ,
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.

Historic Lawsuit Filed Challenging Trump’s Attack On Free Speech

March 16, 2025 Amandla Thomas-Johnson, Popular Resistance. , , , , , , ,
A Cornell professor and two graduate students are suing the Trump administration for violating the First Amendment as it seeks to deport international students protesting Israel’s war on Gaza under the guise of protecting national security. Trump’s salvo of executive orders targeting what amounts to student thought crimes means the Cornell scholars “now fear government retaliation for engaging in constitutionally protected expression critical of U.S. foreign policy and supportive of Palestinian human rights,” according to the lawsuit, filed Saturday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District.

Cornell Black Students Denounce University President’s ‘White Supremacist’ Language

October 5, 2024 Amandla Thomas-Johnson, Popular Resistance. , , , , , ,
Black students at Cornell have denounced the University's Interim President Michael Kotlikoff for deploying “white supremacist caricatures” as he pursues a war of words against Momodou Taal, a graduate student facing deportation for taking part in pro-Palestinian protests.  Following a meeting with Kotlikoff earlier in the week, Black student groups on Wednesday said they “no longer felt safe on campus” and urged the university to “create an open forum to repair the administration’s relationship with Black students.” It comes as a petition supporting Taal surpassed 10,000 signatures. 

Student Faces Deportation After Suspension for Pro-Palestine Protest

September 24, 2024 Matt Dougherty, Ithaca Times. , , , , , , ,
Cornell University has become the first university to suspend a student for pro-Palestinian organizing this semester. The suspension came in response to a student-led protest organized by the Coalition for Mutual Liberation (CML), which shut down a career fair at the Statler Hotel attended by defense contractors Boeing and L3 Harris last week. The protest, according to the CML, was part of a broader effort to oppose Cornell’s complicity in military and defense industries that profit from violence, specifically in the occupied Palestinian territories. The suspended student is PhD candidate Momodou Taal, who has been a prominent advocate for Palestinian liberation during his time at Cornell.