U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is trying to detain an international Cornell graduate student suing the Trump administration, according to the student’s lawyers.
Momodou Taal, who is also a Palestinian rights activist, is suing the Trump administration over recent executive orders that his lawyers say violate his and other Cornell academics’ rights to free speech and due process. The lawsuit was filed by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Taal is suing alongside another Cornell graduate student and activist, Sriram Parsurama, and Cornell professor, Dr. Mukoma wa Ngũgĩ.
In a court filing Friday, lawyers representing Taal revealed that the Department of Justice emailed them asking the graduate student to appear at Homeland Security offices. Taal would then be surrendered to ICE custody, according to the email presented in the filings.
Taal’s attorneys told WSKG that he has not been detained and there is no indication that his visa is not still valid at this time.
This comes after Taal’s lawyers issued a request to stop any efforts to deport or detain Taal. In a statement posted on social media Wednesday, Taal said his residence had been monitored by unidentified law enforcement officers.
“Trump is attempting to detain me to prevent me from having my day in court. Trump does not want me to present my arguments challenging his actions,” Taal wrote.
His lawyers are currently asking the courts to stop the federal government from detaining or deporting him before the lawsuit can be heard in federal court on Tuesday.
Eric Lee is Taal’s attorney.
“In a democracy, the federal authorities do not come to your house and attempt to arrest you after you filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality, especially on free speech grounds, of executive actions,” Lee told WSKG. “ It's an outrageous development which should shock everybody.”
Neither the Department of Justice nor ICE responded to WSKG’s requests for comment.
This comes after ICE detained Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestine student activist at Columbia University. Khalil is a legal, permanent resident who has not been charged with a crime.