A Cornell University student facing deportation after his visa was revoked because of his campus activism said he decided to leave the United States.

Momodou Taal, a citizen of the United Kingdom and Gambia, had asked a federal court to halt his detention. But he posted on X late Monday that he didn’t believe a legal ruling in his favor would guarantee his safety or ability to speak out.

“I have lost faith I could walk the streets without being abducted,” Momodou Taal wrote from an unknown location. “Weighing up these options, I took the decision to leave on my own terms.”

  • catloaf@lemm.ee
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    1 day ago

    Honestly, that’s the smart thing to do. Staying risks being sent to the El Salvador megaprison.

    • andxz@lemmy.world
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      7 hours ago

      Which, it should be noted, incidentally is exactly why they’re sending random people to said prison without due process in the first place.

  • Grimtuck@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    UK here. Proud of our UK, Gambian citizen that he understands what’s at stake for him personally. There’s no point in being abducted and disappeared without trace, get the hell out of there if you’re at risk as many of the persecuted did when Hitler was doing the same in Germany.

    • some_designer_dude@lemmy.world
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      7 hours ago

      The brain drain’s already begun. The “soul drain” is probably (and should be) next. Staying is investing in the country. You will pay with your taxes and more and more freedoms in exchange for the chance to die working.

      • BreadAndThread@lemmy.world
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        7 hours ago

        I bet. I truly hope you make it out. And I know it might be painful, but plz don’t exercise any rights formally enjoyed by US citizens and legal residents beforeyou leave. ICE is the most reprehensible group of losers this country has ever put together. Each member is too stupid to be a real cop, and we all know how stupid US cops are, so that’s saying something. I’d also bet that they tried to be prison guards (because of endless victims), but they were too incompetent for that. So we’re left with a group of deplorables where the more racist, misogynistic, and bigoted you are, the better!

        I’ve been going out on Saturdays to protest Tesla and will be joining other groups soon. Plz let me and othwrs like me represent you in the huge “fuck you US” that I know you want to personally deliver.

        All the best to you and yours.

        • Tiefling IRL@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          6 hours ago

          I’ve been trying to lay low for the most part to avoid any setbacks. Unfortunately that does make me even more vulnerable than I already was

          • BreadAndThread@lemmy.world
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            4 hours ago

            Jfc, I’m sorry my country is so full of morons that love to hate because it makes them feel better about themselves.

      • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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        12 hours ago

        Sure, but it will seriously hurt universities by making them lose tuition and talent. By extension it’ll hurt university towns by making them lose business and labor.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          11 hours ago

          it will seriously hurt universities by making them lose tuition and talent.

          You’re presuming universities exist to cultivate talent and procure tuition. But what if their primary purpose is to cultivate propaganda, gatekeep social clubs, grant bragging rights to fail kids, and provide sinecures to elite alumni and their friends.

          By extension it’ll hurt university towns by making them lose business and labor.

          New Haven, CT has one of the highest poverty rates in New England, despite being next door to Yale, home of an elite business school.

          Few alumni seem to mind.

          • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
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            1 hour ago

            But what if their primary purpose is…

            🏉 FEWTBHAWWWLLL!!! 🏈

            … education might just be an accidental side effect…

          • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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            11 hours ago

            But what if their primary purpose is to cultivate propaganda, gatekeep social clubs, grant bragging rights to fail kids, and provide sinecures to elite alumni and their friends.

            And what do you think the purpose of foreign students was? To propagandize foreigners and gatekeep their ruling class. The compradores are trained in US universities, not in schools in their home countries.

            New Haven, CT has one of the highest poverty rates in New England, despite being next door to Yale, home of an elite business school.

            Elite universities are like fortress towns all to themselves, so New Haven doesn’t get business from Yale. That’s going to be very different for the relationship between Iowa City and the University of Iowa.

            • Zentron@lemm.ee
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              8 hours ago

              Agreeing with an .ml person, what a day

              But yeah , not going to their home countries uni maybe a question of their countries uni being 50 years behind (i attended uni in a 3rd world country as a chem eng and we were using equipment from the 60s and 70s)

      • Zahtu@feddit.org
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        13 hours ago

        Except its not abt white people only, because any other foreign Student ist going to avoid American Universities now. So, it will be for the American, whites only students, restricting international Exchange of ideas and understanding. Not too Long until they are going to target the education to cater to this exclusive group, removing all diverse topics and critical Thinking teaching subjects. Because a populace brought Into their political Line zu s easier to manage and keep under Control.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          11 hours ago

          any other foreign Student ist going to avoid American Universities now

          I think you’ll find plenty of Euro-White Nationalists - particularly Orban-stans, Le Penn fans, Reform UK types, and AfDers - welcomed in with open arms.

          Also, lots of Israelis.

          Not too Long until they are going to target the education to cater to this exclusive group, removing all diverse topics and critical Thinking teaching subjects.

          Liberty University For All

      • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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        22 hours ago

        Many times more, in some cases. If foreign students don’t come, then schools will have to charge everyone more. And they need a certain amount of normies footing the bill as there just aren’t enough rich bitch students to make up the slack. If they price it out of reach of normies they’re slowly fucked.

        • njm1314@lemmy.world
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          22 hours ago

          With a probable closing of Department of Education soon we’re also going to see the elimination of Pell Grants probably. So basically colleges are about to be gutted.

          • anomnom@sh.itjust.works
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            51 minutes ago

            Which is the Republicans long held goal. They need less college educate people, not more.

  • tyfpgg@lemm.ee
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    9 hours ago

    Shameful. I have kids that I wouldn’t feel safe sending to these institutions even though they are American citizens.

    Did Cornell work with Trump on this?

    Unis confirmed/likely working with ICE:

    • Columbia University - (I heard is run by a banker, instead of an academic and is chasing easy $$): betrayed their students (more than one)
    • New College of Florida - fired a Professor over skin color/race (wouldn’t ever consider Florida anyway). Per commenter below, it was the proving ground with Chris Rufo
    • Yale - 3 Professors fled Yale Interview with one of them

    Unis that claimed didn’t work with ICE:

    Maybe different reason?

    • Indiana University - Admin has been taken over by MAGA, they disappeared a cybersecurity professor
    • UIUC - Had multiple students charged with mob action before the election. Possible theory: maybe political pressure by alumni, Isreal, or democratic party (see below comment for more)

    Wonder what other institutions of higher thinking/learning will be next to capitulate…

  • Jeena@piefed.jeena.net
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    1 day ago

    I totally understand him, the Americans, Russians, Chinese, North Koreans in the end are on their own to fight against their authoritarian governments.

    • adm@lemm.ee
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      24 hours ago

      It’s so wild to see my country on that list with the “big three”

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        23 hours ago

        Personally I’d put Americans with the Hungarians and Turks instead. Still bad, but not quite that bad… Yet.

        • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          4 hours ago

          "I thought it was just a normal day. I mean, 4 years, how long could that be. Then one day, out of nowhere, I heard a bunch of helicopters hovering, and I heard sirens wailing. Just another day of police chases, I thought, nothing unusual. I went on my laptop and tried to watch a Youtube Video, but the browser says ‘Unable to connect’. I tried to use my phone’s hotspot, same thing. I tried to call a friend, but calls keep geting dropped, and even SMS says ‘undeliverable’. My phone says ‘Emergency Only’ instead of the carrier name. Oh well, I’m bored and there’s nothing to do, I guess I’ll just do my grocerry shopping early. I drive to the grocerry store and on the way there, I saw a bunch of soldiers with a roadblock thing and… it’s a checkpoint…

          The next thing I saw on my phone was an emergency alert ‘Martial Law has been Declared Nationwide effective immediately…’"

  • notasquirrel@lemm.ee
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    1 day ago

    it’s beyond demoralizing and unsettling to stay in a country that perceives you as a ‘national threat’