US District Judge Elizabeth C. Coombe heard arguments from both sides of a landmark lawsuit against two of Trump’s executive orders targeting free speech and opposition to the genocide in Gaza on Tuesday. The hearing was held in Syracuse, New York.
The case has been brought by Cornell University student Momodou Taal, along with fellow student Sriram Parasurama and Professor Mũkoma Wa Ngũgĩ. Attorneys for Taal—Eric Lee and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee—are also seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Trump administration to prevent it from seizing and deporting Taal in retaliation for bringing the suit, which it is seeking to do.
Coombe made no decision either on the main lawsuit or the TRO. A ruling could be made sometime later this week.
Hundreds of people attended the hearing or gathered outside the federal courthouse Tuesday afternoon to defend free speech and support Taal. Reporters for the World Socialist Web Site spoke with many of those protesting before and after the hearing.
Co-plaintiff, Professor Wa Ngũgĩ: “We shouldn’t be punishing the people who are calling out what clearly is a genocide”
Following the hearing, Professor Mũkoma Wa Ngũgĩ, a co-plaintiff with Momodou Taal in the lawsuit against the Trump administration, spoke on the genocide in Gaza and reiterated that Taal is being targeted for simply speaking out against the ongoing massacre.
Eric Lee: “If democracy is going to be defended, it is not going to come from the Democratic Party.”
Speaking outside the courthouse Tuesday after the hearing, Eric Lee, Momodou Taal’s lead attorney, emphasized that the fight for democratic rights cannot be waged through the Democratic Party.
Taal’s lawyer, Eric Lee: This “is a test case to determine whether the government can... put you in jail for the things you say”
Following Tuesday’s hearing, Eric Lee, Momodou Taal’s lead lawyer, issued a powerful statement in front of the courthouse warning that:
Momodou Taal is a test case to determine whether the government can come to your house and grab you and put you in jail for the things you say, criticizing the United States government and its policies. They start with someone who is a non-citizen, they start with someone who said something that the powers that be find difficult to deal with, that is calling what Israel is doing to the people of Palestine a genocide. But it doesn’t end with Momodou Taal.
Next it will be you. Next it will be criticizing Donald Trump on social media. That’s technically within the bounds of these executive orders. Next it will be registering people to vote, maybe. … That could ultimately come under these orders. We don’t know where this ends. We don’t know how they will be enforcing them in year four of the Trump administration. But we do know, if we stand up and stop them from doing it to Mr. Taal and to the US citizens who have a right to hear views that are critical of the government, that we can stop them from doing it to all of you as well.
The judge in the case did not make any rulings during the hearing on Tuesday. Lee said of the proceedings:
We think we made some convincing arguments. We think we are right on the law. We think we are right on the policies. We think we are right on morals. And we hope that the people that listen and follow this case understand that ultimately our appeal is to you. And that the First Amendment, if its going to be protected, its not just going to be protected by the lawyers in the courts, ultimately its going to have to be protected by the American population.
The rest of Lee’s speech can be viewed in the video below.
“I’m afraid it’s just leading to a fascist state”
Outside Tuesday’s hearing reporters for the WSWS spoke to multiple people outraged over the attempts to deport Momodou Taal and the broader attacks on democratic rights.
Hearing begins today on Momodou Taal’s case against Trump
The attack on the democratic rights of Taal, a British-Gambian student, is part of the broader fascistic rampage by the Trump regime. It follows a series of similar actions, including: the March 8 abduction of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana; the March 11 suspension of Yale Law School scholar Helyeh Doutaghi based on false claims spread by a pro-Israel media outlet; and the March 17 detention of Georgetown University researcher Badar Khan Suri by masked federal agents outside his home.
Additionally, on Monday, 21-year-old Yunseo Chung—a legal permanent resident from South Korea who has lived in the US since age seven—filed a lawsuit against President Trump and top administration officials after immigration authorities attempted to arrest and deport her for participating in pro-Palestinian protests.
The events leading up to the US district court hearing on Tuesday reveal the extraordinary context within which it is being held.
(Read full article here.)
Lawyers for Momodou Taal denounce Trump administration’s deportation effort as unconstitutional political retaliation
In a filing submitted Sunday to the US District Court for the Northern District of New York in the case of Taal v. Trump, attorneys for Cornell graduate student Momodou Taal denounced the Trump administration’s efforts to detain and deport their client as an unconstitutional act of political retaliation.
On Friday, Taal, a British-Gambian student, was issued a formal demand to surrender himself to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) just days after he filed a lawsuit challenging Trump’s executive orders targeting protesters for deportation. A filing to the court from Taal’s lawyers on Friday afternoon called on the judge in the case to grant an emergency injunction, noting that the government’s action “constitutes an unlawful attempt to remove this Court’s jurisdiction over this case” by deporting Taal.
A Justice Department filing submitted Saturday night claims that Taal’s immigration status “became unlawful before this lawsuit began” and that his arrest is merely the result of a revoked student visa. But the government openly acknowledges that the revocation was based on Taal’s political activity and carried out under Executive Order 14188, which calls for using immigration powers against critics of the Israeli state.
Taal’s lawyers—Eric Lee and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee—responded Sunday that the government’s own account confirms the political motivation behind the targeting. “Defendants acknowledge they are attempting to remove Momodou Taal… because he is a pro-Palestinian activist who attended a protest at Cornell University,” the filing states. “Their alleged authority for doing so is the Executive Orders.”
The attorneys argue that the government’s conduct is so egregious that it qualifies as “outrageous” under legal precedent—and is therefore subject to review by the court. (Read the full article here.)