Momodou Taal, who left the U.S. in March rather than allow the current administration to deport him, speaks to In These Times about a wide range of topics, including his lawsuit against the current administration’s executive orders targeting international students.
Taal articulates one of the many connections between the targeting of immigrants and the administration’s attempts to silence the pro-Palestine/anti-genocide movement: “On the campaign trail, Trump said, if you were seen at these 'pro-Hamas’ protests, we will find you and we will deport you. So Trump is making good on his promise… what we’re essentially saying in this country now is we cannot critique another government anymore, let alone the American government.”
Taal sees the current repression, however, as a sign of weakness rather than strength: “the fact that we have the largest empire in history, the most militarized empire in history, fighting against students, repressing students and compelling and forcing universities to clamp down on students, for me, that’s not a sign of strength on their part. It’s a sign that they’re losing their ideological battle.”
There is far more in this interview than will ever fit into a short blurb—check out the rest at the link above.