Three Cornell University affiliates—Ph.D. student Momodou Taal, Professor Mũkoma Wa Ngũgĩ, and student Sriram Parasurama—filed a federal lawsuit Friday in the Northern District of New York, challenging two Trump administration executive orders they say stomp on free speech and due process.
The complaint, lodged against President Donald Trump, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Secretary Kristi Noem, seeks to block parts of the orders targeting criticism of the U.S. and Israel, arguing they’ve silenced dissent under threat of deportation and jail.
The suit zeroes in on Executive Order 14161 (“Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists,” Jan. 30, 2025) and Executive Order 14188 (“Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism,” Feb. 3, 2025).
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EO 1 bars non-citizens like Taal, a UK-Gambian student, from speech deemed “hostile” to U.S. “citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles,” risking deportation.
EO 2 vows to “prosecute, remove, or hold accountable” anyone—citizen or not—tagged as “anti-Semitic,” a label plaintiffs say Trump’s team stretches to cover pro-Palestinian advocacy or Israeli criticism. Both, they claim, flout the First and Fifth Amendments.
“This is unprecedented,” the complaint asserts, pointing to a White House fact sheet and Trump’s own words—like his May 2024 pledge to deport protesting students—to argue the orders aim to “suppress dissenting viewpoints.”
Taal, a vocal Palestinian rights advocate, alleges he’s curbed his speech, skipping protests and talks—like a Toronto book launch—fearing ICE will nab him. His U.S. citizen co-plaintiffs, Wa Ngũgĩ and Parasurama, say they’ve lost his voice in their activism, chilling their rights to hear and associate.
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The stakes spiked on March 9 when DHS arrested Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil under the orders, a move Trump hailed as “the first of many” on Truth Social. Taal’s already on pro-Israel group Betar’s deportation list, spotlighted by Rep. Jason Smith and media like the Washington Free Beacon. “The threat is imminent,” the suit warns, citing Trump’s vow to boot all pro-Palestinian visa holders by year’s end.
Plaintiffs demand the court nix key provisions—like EO 1’s speech bans and EO 2’s campus surveillance push—and issue an injunction, claiming the orders’ vague terms (“hostile attitude,” “anti-Semitic”) invite abuse and self-censorship.
“Criticism isn’t terrorism,” they argue, slamming the measures as overbroad and lacking “narrow tailoring” under strict scrutiny.
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Filed as Trump’s border policies tighten, the case—backed by attorneys from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and others—could test his immigration authority against constitutional limits.
With a jury trial demanded and expedited relief sought, it’s a high-stakes clash over speech, power, and who gets to stay in America.
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