In 2024, people are seen walking on the grounds of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. A recent court filing revealed that the Department of Justice asked Momodou Taal, a Cornell University student who had participated in campus protests, to surrender to immigration authorities. Taal, a Ph.D. student and U.S. visa holder with dual citizenship in the United Kingdom and Gambia, was contacted by a Department of Justice lawyer to initiate the deportation process. The exact timing of Taal’s surrender to immigration authorities was not specified in the email received.
According to Taal’s attorney, Eric Lee, in the days leading up to the email, unidentified authorities had appeared outside Taal’s student residence, questioning other residents about him. The building staff intervened, asking the authorities to leave. The court requested an explanation from the Justice Department by a specified deadline, which they have yet to provide. Cornell University and the Department of Homeland Security have not responded to inquiries from NBC News.
Taal, along with two U.S. citizens, had challenged the Trump administration’s executive orders regarding anti-Semitism on college campuses and the expulsion of foreign nationals deemed national security threats. They argued that these orders infringed upon the free speech rights of international students expressing support for Palestinians in Gaza.
This incident is part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to influence private higher education institutions. Recently, Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student engaged in similar protests, was arrested by immigration officials. Khalil is currently detained in Louisiana, fighting against deportation. Taal’s concerns about being apprehended by immigration authorities were fueled by Khalil’s arrest, prompting his legal action.
The Trump administration justified Khalil’s arrest under a national security clause of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, allowing the secretary of state to deport noncitizens if their presence could affect foreign policy negatively. Recent statements from Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested revoking visas and green cards for individuals supporting Hamas.
Additional incidents included the arrest of Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian student from the West Bank for overstaying her student visa, and Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian national who fled to Canada after her visa was revoked. Srinivasan denied participation in the campus protests. Moreover, a doctor and professor from Brown University were deported after attending the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon.
These events underscore the complex legal and political landscape surrounding immigration and national security in higher education institutions.
Recently, a graduate student teaching at Georgetown University on a student visa was detained this week. The Trump administration has taken action against universities in response to protests on college campuses last year. On March 7, the administration announced the withdrawal of $400 million in federal grants from Columbia, the central location of the protests. Additionally, the White House declared a pause in $175 million in federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania for allowing a transgender swimmer to participate on its women’s team.
To initiate discussions for the reinstatement of federal funding, Columbia has agreed to the Trump administration’s stipulations. The university will now prohibit students from wearing masks at protests in most cases, adjust its admissions process, employ 36 new campus security officers with the authority to make arrests, and assign a new senior vice provost to supervise the department of Middle East, South Asian, and African studies.
These actions have sparked new protests and raised concerns nationwide about the government’s encroachment on free speech. Some students and professors at Columbia have expressed fears of being targeted by the government if they voice their opinions. Protests are set to resume at Columbia on Monday.
