BURSTA district judge Thursday ruled against a Cornell University student who sued the Trump administration over the legality of two executive orders the administration is using in its crackdown on foreign students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests.
Judge Elizabeth Coombe ruled against Momodou Taal, the Cornell student whose visa has been revoked, saying the court does not have subject matter jurisdiction and the student did not show a clear threat to his constitutional rights that would be solved by the lawsuit.
"Jurisdictional issues aside, Plaintiffs Ngũgĩ and Parasurama have not established that there is an imminent or ongoing threat to their constitutional rights that could be appropriately remedied by the requested restraints,” Coombe wrote.
“Any future harm alleged in their affidavits appears to be speculative and even moot because of the revocation of Taal’s visa,” she added.
Taal challenged two executive orders by President Trump, one regarding combatting antisemitism and the other regarding threats from foreign terrorists, arguing they are being used to unfairly target pro-Palestinian protesters.
The lawsuit was filed a day after the government revoked Taal’s visa.
“And given how they went after Mahmoud, who has a similar fact pattern, I didn’t want to be a sitting duck for eventually myself or other international students. So, I found the lawsuit as a form of protection seeking national injunction to challenge the constitutionality of these executive orders,” Taal previously told The Hill.
Taal was suspended from Cornell last year but then reinstated.
He gained notoriety after he posted on X following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, “Colonised peoples have the right to resist by any means necessary” and “Glory to the resistance!”
In an interview with CNN after the incident, Taal said he's against all killing of civilians and that he felt it was racist to have to condemn a terrorist organization every time before criticizing Israel.