SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
cornell university
Cornell Students, Professor Sue Trump For Targeting Palestine Defenders
"The First Amendment does not come with a 'Palestine Exception,'" said the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, which filed the suit.
Mar 17, 2025
A lawsuit filed Saturday on behalf of two Cornell University graduates students and one professor at the Ivy League school in Upstate New York is challenging what plaintiffs are calling "the Trump administration's unconstitutional campaign against free speech—particularly as it targets international students and scholars who protest or express support for Palestinian rights."
"The lawsuit seeks a nationwide injunction of executive orders used by the administration to target and deport international students advocating for Palestinian freedom, rights, and liberation under the guise of protecting national security," explained the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), which sued on behalf of Ph.D. students Momodou Taal and Sriram Parasurama and professor Mukoma Wa Ngũgĩ.
Taal, a British-Gambian national, is facing possible deportation for his pro-Palestine activism on campus. Parasurama was arrested last October for protesting Israel's annihilation of Gaza at a career fair and was subsequently de-enrolled from Cornell and banned from the university's campus in Ithaca, New York for three years. Wa Ngũgĩ is a professor of literature who works with Taal. Parasurama and Wa Ngũgĩ are U.S. citizens.
"Defendants' attempt to bar non-citizens from criticizing the U.S. government, its institutions, American culture, or the government of Israel—and to prohibit citizens from hearing those views—serves no legitimate government interest in preventing terrorism or enforcing immigration laws," the lawsuit states. "The justifications offered are pretextual and dangerous. Criticism of the U.S. government does not constitute terrorism, and criticism of the Israeli government is not antisemitism."
Taal said in a statement that "the U.S. government claims to be zealous about free speech—except when it comes to Palestine."
"We've been here before: McCarthyism to civil rights to Vietnam, times when this country has deviated from its stated commitments to free speech," he continued. "This is another generational moment, another hour of reckoning. Why is there a Palestine exception?"
"Only in a dictatorship can the leader jail and banish political opponents for criticizing his administration" Taal added. "A nationwide injunction is therefore necessary while the court considers the merits."
Parasurama said: "These draconian executive orders aim to crack down on those willing to protest against our country's active role in the genocide of the Palestinian people. They are part of a broader moral crisis our nation is grappling with. This lawsuit allows us to recover our basic rights and protect international students like Momodou Taal."
Wa Ngũgĩ said that "I was born in the U.S. but grew up under the [Daniel arap] Moi dictatorship in Kenya in the 1980s. Students and people of conscience in Kenya were being detained, tortured, exiled or killed. My own family experienced the full brunt of this oppressive society. When I moved back to the U.S. in the early 1990s I could not foresee this attempt to chill free speech and directly attack our universities."
The Trump administration has invoked the president's January executive order authorizing the arrest, detention, and deportation of noncitizen students and others who took part in protests against Israel's assault on Gaza, which has left more than 170,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing and around 2 million others forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened, according to local and international agencies. Israel's conduct in the war is the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case brought by South Africa.
Last week, immigration authorities arrested Mahmoud Khalil, an Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent who helped Gaza protests at Columbia University while he was a graduate student there. Trump called Khalil's detention "the first arrest of many to come."
Pro-Israel activists played a role in Khalil's arrest. Shai Davidai, an assistant professor at Columbia who was temporarily banned from campus last year after harassing university employees, and Columbia student David Lederer have waged what Khalil called "a vicious, coordinated, and dehumanizing doxxing campaign" against him and other activists. The group Canary Mission last week released a video naming five other international students it says are "linked to campus extremism at Columbia."
The Department of Justice announced Friday that it is investigating whether pro-Palestinian demonstrators at over 60 colleges and universities including Columbia and Cornell violated federal anti-terrorism laws.
On Monday, ADC legal director and case co-counsel Chris Godshall-Bennett said that "this is one of those times people will look back on and ask what we did."
"We will not stand idly by while the government disappears its political opponents," he continued. "My family fled European antisemitism and came to the United States where our Constitution protects us from tyranny. My Jewish identity won't be used as an excuse to persecute the Palestinian people and its allies without a fight."
"This is one of those times people will look back on and ask what we did."
"Through this litigation, we seek both immediate and long-term relief to protect non-citizens from deportation and citizens from prosecution based on their constitutionally protected speech," Godshall-Bennett added.
Lead plaintiffs' counsel Eric Lee said that "this lawsuit aims to vindicate the rights of all non-citizens and citizens in the U.S., but the courthouse is only one arena in this fight."
"We appeal to the population: Stand up and exercise your First Amendment rights by actively and vigorously opposing the danger of dictatorship," Lee added. "As we prepare to mark the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution next year, recall the words from the Declaration of Independence: 'That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.'"
Pro-Palestine demonstrations continue at Cornell and on campuses across the nation and around the world. Last week, 17 activists led by the group Students for Justice in Palestine were
detained by police after interrupting a Cornell panel on the history of the so-called Israel-Palestine "conflict," whose members included former Israeli foreign minister and alleged war criminal Tzipi Livni.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Cornell Under Fire as Suspended Pro-Palestinian Student at Risk of Deportation
"This is a deliberate targeting of a Black Muslim student at an institution where those two identities are increasingly unwelcome," said the Ph.D. candidate, Momodou Taal.
Sep 28, 2024
Two members of Congress on Friday joined the growing chorus of voices criticizing Cornell University for the administration's treatment of Ph.D. student Momodou Taal, a U.K. citizen who could be deported as a result of his pro-Palestinian activism on the Ithaca, New York campus.
"It is appalling that Cornell University appears ready to deport an international student without regard for due process, simply because of their presence at a protest. It is wrong, and I urge the university to reverse course immediately," U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a top congressional critic of Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, said on social media early Friday.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.)—another opponent of genocide in Gaza who is set to leave the House of Representatives at the end of this term after losing his primary to a pro-Israel candidate—spoke out in support of Taal Friday evening.
"Momodou Taal participated in a peaceful student protest against weapons contractors' presence in a career fair—Cornell set into motion his deportation."
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for the November election, "showed us how he felt about Black immigrants, and I urge Cornell to refrain from doing the same," Bowman said on social media.
"Momodou Taal participated in a peaceful student protest against weapons contractors' presence in a career fair—Cornell set into motion his deportation," he explained. "Cornell must reverse his suspension. Student protest and free expression are critical rights that universities need to uphold for students and faculty alike."
Joel M. Malina, Cornell's vice president for university relations, has told multiple media outlets this week that "universities can disallow enrollment and bar a student from campus, but do not have deportation powers."
In response, Taal's attorney, Eric Lee, has called that statement "a cynical sleight of hand," given that "the administration has made the decision to persecute Mr. Taal for free speech activity knowing full well that doing so will subject him to serious immigration consequences," which sets "a dangerous national precedent."
Taal, 30-year-old a Ph.D. candidate in Africana studies who was teaching a writing seminar at Cornell, is part of the Coalition for Mutual Liberation. He was among over 100 students who marched into the on-campus career fair last week due to participation from Boeing and L3Harris, defense contractors that students targeted for "supporting the ongoing war in Gaza."
In a video interview with Taal published on Friday, The Cornell Daily Sun's Gabriel Levin noted that the newspaper does not know of any other students suspended because of the career fair protest. Taal suggested that he is being targeted because of his identity as a Black Muslim man and he is seen as a leader of pro-Palestinian campus activism.
Early Monday, Taal received an email about a Cornell police complaint against him related to the career fair protest—which contains allegations that the graduate student denies—and his resulting suspension. He has been barred from campus.
Because Taal has attended the Ivy League school with an F-1 visa, the suspension means he could soon be deported. As The Nationreported on Wednesday:
The F-1 visa program allows foreign nationals to reside in the United States if they are enrolled in an academic educational program, a language-training program, or a vocational program. Those with F-1 visas can also work on campus and in limited off-campus training positions. According to the Department of Homeland Security, suspension from an academic program is a valid reason for the termination of a record, which changes the immigration status of someone holding a F-1 visa.
Cornell University did not respond to questions about its policies and procedures regarding the suspension of a student with an F-1 visa.
As of publication, the university still refers to disciplinary action against Taal as a "temporary suspension." But by suspending Taal, the university set in motion immigration procedures without having to provide the level of evidence that due process would require, if the charges against Taal were criminal, which they are not.
Taal said on social media Thursday that "the VP of student and campus life, Ryan Lombardi, rejected my appeal after one business day. This demonstrates once again that my ability to stay in this country is being hastily handled without due process in a continued attempt to silence me. I have until 5:00 pm tomorrow to appeal to the provost. If the provost rejects this appeal, then I believe my withdrawal will be processed and I will promptly have to leave the country."
"Once again, there has been no investigation, nor have I had a chance to even respond to the allegations against me," he continued. "I maintain that all my actions have been peaceful and in accordance with my First Amendment rights. This is a deliberate targeting of a Black Muslim student at an institution where those two identities are increasingly unwelcome. When it comes to Palestine the university will abandon all commitments to academic freedom and free speech to protect its corporate interests."
Taal's next appeal goes to Cornell's interim provost, John Siciliano—who, in a Monday email to students, "advocated for severe punishments against pro-Palestinian activists, including legal action," as the Sunnoted in a Thursday editorial.
Cornell is facing mounting pressure from students, professors, alumni, and campus groups as well as advocates and organizations in Ithaca and across the country to stop "unjustly" punishing Taal—who was also involved in pro-Palestinian advocacy at Cornell during the last academic year, as protests over Israel's assault on Gaza were held on campuses across the United States.
"What should make Taal's suspension troubling to every member of the Cornell community is not at all about whether one agrees with his beliefs—it's that the university hasn't shown Taal the due process that all students deserve," the Sun's editorial states. "Without an independent party weighing the evidence, this can't be called anything other than a kangaroo court in which the provost serves as judge, jury, and executioner."
"To make matters worse, Cornell may have violated labor law, too," the newspaper detailed. "Cornell breached an agreement it had signed just three months ago with Cornell Graduate Students United, which requires the university to bargain with the union when graduate students might be de-enrolled or suspended. Here, no bargaining took place. The university simply chose to impose its will unilaterally."
Although the consequences of Taal's on-campus activism may be severe, he made clear on social media Friday evening that he "will never regret going hard for Palestine."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'We Did It!' Striking UAW Workers at Cornell Win Tentative Deal
UAW Region 9 director Daniel Vicente said the workers "used their power to push back on Cornell's arrogance and win a great contract."
Aug 28, 2024
Unionized workers at Cornell University confirmed Wednesday that they had reached a tentative agreement with the Ivy League institution after months of negotiations and nearly two weeks on strike.
The deal, which still requires ratification by over 1,000 workers, "includes record wage increases of up to 25.4%, a cost-of-living adjustment, and the elimination of the two-tier wage system," according to a statement from the United Auto Workers (UAW). "The agreement also introduces significant improvements to policies on time off, uniforms, inclement weather, and safety protections."
During negotiations, the union highlighted that as Cornell's endowment has soared to around $10 billion and tuition has risen 13% over the past four years, top administrators have made millions while many of the custodians, dining and facility workers, gardeners, and others haven't made a living wage for Ithaca, New York and struggled to afford housing and campus parking fees.
"Cornell University workers are the latest UAW members standing up to the billionaire class."
"Workers at Cornell were fed up with being exploited and disrespected," declared UAW Local 2300 President Christine Johnson on Wednesday, echoing her remarks when workers walked off the job late August 18, shortly before the start of the academic year. "This agreement is going to mean a better life for the people who make Cornell run."
Union members had voted by 94% to authorize the strike on August 16. In a bargaining update late Tuesday, after 12 hours at the negotiating table led to the deal, union negotiators told members that the strike remains ongoing. If workers ratify the agreement on September 1-2, they should plan to return to work on September 3.
Citing a university statement about the deal, The Cornell Daily Sunreported Wednesday that "it will take a few days for campus operations to be fully restored once the agreement is ratified. Therefore, they encourage students without meal swipes to eat at non-Cornell Dining eateries until usual staffing levels have been restored."
Although the deal is not yet approved by workers, UAW Region 9 director Daniel Vicente seemed optimistic on Wednesday.
"The workers at Cornell used their power to push back on Cornell's arrogance and win a great contract," Vicente said. "They stood together and showed the university that they were willing to do what was needed to win what they deserve."
Meanwhile, the UAW framed the deal as part of a wave of victories secured by its members nationwide over the past year.
"Cornell University workers are the latest UAW members standing up to the billionaire class," the union said. "Thousands of UAW members have won record contracts in the last year, including autoworkers at Daimler Truck, the Big Three automakers, and Allison Transmission workers in Indianapolis."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular