A Cornell University student facing deportation after his visa was revoked because of his campus activism said he decided to leave the United States.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