By Omar Bah
A Gambia student based in the United States, who praised Hamas’ attacks on October 7 and organized pro-Palestine protests, has been ordered to surrender to ICE officials despite having committed no legal violations.
Momodou Taal, a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and The Gambia, received this order shortly after he requested a judge to prevent the government from deporting him.
A doctoral candidate in African Studies at a prestigious university in New York, Taal recently filed a lawsuit seeking to have two of President Trump’s executive orders targeting foreign protesters on U.S. campuses struck down.
In his filing, Taal expressed that he “lives in constant fear of being arrested by immigration officials or police as a consequence of his speech.”
Following this, his attorneys reportedly received an email from the Justice Department at 1 a.m. on Friday, inviting him to appear in person at the Homeland Security Investigations Office in Syracuse at a mutually agreeable time to receive the Notice to Appear and to surrender to ICE custody, as reported by CNN.
A notice to appeal represents a formal step in the deportation process; however, the email did not specify a deadline for the student to surrender to ICE.
Eric Lee, one of Taal’s attorneys, stated in a filing on Friday that “it is not yet clear what grounds for removal the government alleges exist in this case.” Taal had previously played a prominent role in organizing pro-Palestine protests, and his X account features several posts advocating for the destruction of Israel and justifying the attacks on October 7 by stating that “colonized peoples have the right to resist by any means necessary.”
Taal gained media attention a week ago when he filed a lawsuit aimed at preemptively preventing the government from deporting him, expressing concerns that he could be targeted since his name had been mentioned on social media as a potential subject of ICE action.
As of Friday evening, the government had not yet submitted a formal response to his legal action. Taal’s attorneys have requested that the court delay his surrender to ICE pending the outcome of his lawsuit. The actions taken by the DOJ against Taal occurred amid the Trump administration’s commitment to intensifying enforcement against foreign nationals protesting on U.S. campuses, particularly those involved in pro-Palestine movements.
