Cornell University student Momodou Taal, whose visa was revoked over his involvement in pro-Palestinian campus protests, said he left the United States voluntarily on Monday after a judge declined to intervene to block the Trump administration from taking steps to deport him.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday I took the decision to leave the United States, free and with my head held high,\u201d Taal wrote in a post on X.<\/p>\n
Taal sued the Trump administration over the legality of two executive orders the administration is using in its crackdown on foreign students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests. A judge ruled against Taal, saying the court does not have subject matter jurisdiction and the student did not show a clear threat to his constitutional rights that would be solved by the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
Taal said he was due to submit a second briefing in court, which he planned to do \u201cwith the hope that I could stay out of detention\u201d as the lawsuit progressed, but he decided to leave the country instead, fearing for his safety. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven 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,\u201d Taal wrote in his statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have lost faith I could walk the streets without being abducted,\u201d he continued. \u201cWeighing these options, I took the decision to leave on my own terms.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is of course not the outcome I had wanted going into this, but we are facing a government that has no respect for the judiciary or for the rule of the law,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Taal challenged two of Trump\u2019s executive orders, one on combatting antisemitism and the other on threats from foreign terrorists, arguing they are being used to unfairly target pro-Palestinian protesters.<\/p>\n
Taal was suspended from Cornell last year but then reinstated.<\/p>\n
He gained notoriety after he posted on X following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, \u201cColonised peoples have the right to resist by any means necessary\u201d and \u201cGlory to the resistance!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In an interview with CNN after the incident, Taal said he\u2019s against all killing of civilians and that he felt it was racist to have to condemn a terrorist organization every time before criticizing Israel.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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