A Cornell University graduate student has filed suit against the Trump administration’s efforts to deport pro-Palestinian campus protesters, saying that the push represents an illegal infringement on protected speech.
Momodou Taal is a Gambian-British national who has been a protest leader at the upstate New York university. Cornell briefly suspended him in both April 2024 and September 2024, following protests on its campus that administrators said violated university rules.
Taal has also been the target of advocacy by pro-Israel groups that have sought to identify students who might be eligible for deportation under President Donald Trump’s executive order taking aim at those who endorse terrorism on college campuses.
The lawsuit, filed Friday on behalf of Taal and two other Cornell affiliates by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, cites targeting by one of those groups, Betar US, as a reason that Taal should face relief:
Mr. Taal has also been directly targeted by Zionist groups advocating for his removal from the U.S. In November 2024, Betar US (“Betar”) compiled a list of pro-Palestinian foreign students it sought to have deported, naming Mr. Taal as the sole individual identified. Betar’s director, Ross Glick, delivered this list to Senator John Fetterman and aides from the offices of Senators Ted Cruz and James Lankford, later telling the New York Post, ”They all gave me the thumbs up.” And added that Betar was in communication with prospective Trump administration appointees at the Department of Justice regarding enforcement actions against individuals on the list.
'Going hard for Palestine?'
On March 13, 2025, Betar posted a “Deport Alert” that specifically named Mr. Taal.
In that alert, posted on social media, Betar US cited Taal’s social media posts and speeches at rallies to claim that he had expressed support for “armed resistance” on behalf of the Palestinian cause. They note that he disclosed his non-citizen status in an interview with Inside Higher Ed last fall, in which Taal said he feared that he was effectively facing deportation because of his suspension.
Betar US, which has taken a militant approach to responding to anti-Israel protests, has generated a list of student protesters that it says are not citizens and shared it with the Trump administration, aiming for their deportation. How the administration is using the list is not clear, but pro-Israel Jewish groups called attention to Mahmoud Khalil in the days before the Columbia University graduate student was arrested by ICE agents last week and cheered his arrest.
“Mr. Taal’s growing fear that he will be the target of an ICE removal operation is grounded in a pattern of escalating attention, coordination among high-ranking political and influential private actors, and public threats by figures with the power to influence immigration enforcement decisions,” the suit says.
The lawsuit also notes that Taal and some of his fellow protesters have ceased meeting publicly to discuss their activities, fearing that any communication would be perceived as showing support for Hamas.
“This lawsuit is aimed at reversing the chill on speech and making people feel confident to stand up,” Taal said in a statement on Sunday. “I am fighting for our First Amendment rights and our ability to protest genocide, and stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people. When we are attacked for speech, we have to exercise even more of it.”
During his first suspension in April 2024, following the dismantling of Cornell’s pro-Palestinian encampment, Taal addressed supporters on campus. “Before I go to bed, I say to myself, ‘If I live into my eighties, will I ever regret going this hard for Palestine?’ and I won’t,” he said, speaking into a megaphone, according to video shared by the Cornell Daily Sun student newspaper. “So whilst I love all the support and solidarity from faculty, from my comrades, from my peers, please, do not let this become about any one of us.”