Momodou Taal decided to sue the Trump administration to block his deportation [GETTY]
A pro-Palestinian student who was suing the Trump administration revealed on Tuesday he will be leaving the United States.
Momodou Taal, a graduate student at Cornell University, announced his plans after a judge denied blocking the government from deporting him.
“Given 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,” Taal shared in a statement on X.
“I have lost faith I could walk the streets without being abducted.”
Taal filed a lawsuit in March to block pro-Gaza protesters from being deported following the detainment of several pro-Palestinian protesters, including Mahmoud Khalil, who remains in detention.
The activist, who is a joint citizen of the UK and The Gambia, had his student visa revoked even before he filed the claim and was asked to surrender to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The student did ask a judge to order the government not to deport him, which was rejected, and the same judge denied his request to halt the two executive orders that led to the crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists.
“This 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,” Taal wrote.
The student was previously suspended twice by Cornell for his participation in protests.
Taal is reportedly the second international student to leave the US after being targeted by the US, which the Trump administration describes as “self deportations”.
Taal’s departure comes as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on pro-Palestine activists.
Trump has vowed to deport those who are “adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests” of the US, which includes alleged “antisemitism” and supporting Palestinian group Hamas – an accusation which has been widely used by US politicians without providing evidence.Â
Many activists have decried the crackdown as a violation of free speech.
Turkish student Rumeysa Ozturk had her deportation temporarily barred after being detained by ICE over her activism.
At least 300 university students have had their student visas revoked over their pro-Palestinian activism, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
