President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking to have Momodou Taal, an anti-Israel student protester attending Cornell University who is in the U.S. on a visa, surrender to immigration authorities, according to court documents. Taal holds dual citizenship in the United Kingdom and Gambia.
Eric Lee, an attorney for Taal, stated in court filings that he was notified via email by a Department of Justice attorney, marking the first time he learned the government planned to issue him a notice to appear to begin deportation proceedings alongside an invitation to turn himself in to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday.
Lee, who called Trump’s orders an “urgent threat of dictatorship,” wrote in court documents that “undersigned counsel contacted counsel for Taal to share that ICE invites Taal and his counsel to appear in-person at the HSI Office in Syracuse at a mutually agreeable time for personal service of the NTA and for Taal to surrender to ICE custody.”
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Taal, who has been an anti-Israel student activist since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, has praised the “resistance” against Israel several times on his X account. Despite being accepted on a student visa in 2022, Taal has also posted about his “hatred” for the U.S. and called for “the end of the US empire.”
Hundreds of Cornell University students, alumni and faculty held a rally in support of Taal – who was not present for the demonstration – last week.
“I’m safe. I’m well. And I await my time to be heard in court,” Taal wrote in a X post on Sunday.
A document titled “Jewish Cornellians Stand with Momodou Taal” is also being circulated among students and staff at the university and has under 50 signatures.
When reached for comment, a Trump administration official said, the DOJ “has already been fighting in court to vigorously defend President Trump’s agenda and will continue to do so, especially when it comes to protecting Jewish Americans.”
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The motion comes after Taal, alongside two other students, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration earlier this month for the president’s executive orders vowing to “combat antisemitism,” which they say violates their First Amendment rights to protest against Israel.
“Immediate action will be taken by the Department of Justice to protect law and order, quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, and investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities,” the order states.
Another order listed in Taal’s lawsuit includes the “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats,” which seeks to strengthen the vetting and screening processes for individuals seeking entry into the U.S.
Ivy league schools and universities were the center of anti-Israel protests last year, with several instances of harassment of Jewish students, violent altercations and vandalism reported on campuses.
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Taal’s case comes after the Trump administration targeted Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student and outspoken anti-Israel activist, for deportation this month. Khalil, who arrived in the U.S. on a student visa, is accused by the DOJ of failing to disclose key details on his green card application, including his work with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and a position at the British Embassy in Lebanon.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Cornell University for comment.
