(CNN) — A Cornell University student whose visa was revoked over his participation in pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations has left the United States voluntarily after a judge declined to immediately block the government from taking steps to deport him.
Momodou Taal, a doctoral candidate in Africana Studies, had his student visa revoked due to his involvement in “disruptive protests” and for disregarding university policies and creating a hostile environment for Jewish students, according to US government officials.
“I have lost faith I could walk the streets without being abducted,” Taal said on X, “Weighing up these options, I took the decision to leave on my own terms.”
Eric Lee, an attorney for Taal, confirmed to CNN Taal left the country on Monday.
“I took a decision, it was very abrupt, and I said let me just dip and I did and I made it safely,” Taal said Tuesday on the podcast “The Katie Halper Show.”
Taal, a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and The Gambia, faced criticism for comments made online immediately after the Hamas attack on Israel that left more than 1,200 people dead. He tweeted, “colonised peoples have the right to resist by any means necessary” and “Glory to the resistance!”
Taal was told to surrender to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to a court filing made shortly after he asked a judge to preemptively order the government not to deport him. On Thursday, US District Judge Elizabeth Coombe rejected his request.
She also rejected his request to halt the enforcement of two presidential executive orders that spurred a recent crackdown on international students who, like him, have been involved in pro-Palestinian activism.
“Given what we have seen across the United States, I have lost faith that a favorable ruling from the courts would guarantee my personal safety,” Taal, 31, said in a social media post Monday.
Lee did not elaborate on where Taal had gone when he left the…