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Cornell student threatened with deportation over Palestine activism to leave US

1 April 2025 15:00 BST

A British-Gambian PhD student has decided to leave the United States after the Trump administration sent immigration officers to deport him for his pro-Palestine activism at Cornell University.

Last month, Momodou Taal launched legal proceedings against US President Donald Trump to stop his attempt at deporting international students and scholars who support Palestine and protest against the war on Gaza.

Taal's attorneys said Trump officials had asked the 31-year-old to turn himself in and were planning to revoke his student visa.

But on Monday night, Taal, a doctoral candidate in Africana studies, said he intended to leave "the United States free and with my head held high".

Taal said: "I decided to sue the Trump administration with the hope that it would offer reprieve for myself and other similarly situated persons."

READ MORE: Cornell student threatened with deportation over Palestine activism to leave US

Taal said he had 'lost faith' that a favourable court ruling would protect him from possible deportation by ICE (Screengrab: CNN)
Taal said he had 'lost faith' that a favourable court ruling would protect him from possible deportation by ICE (Screengrab: CNN)