Momodou Taal and Amandla Thomas-Johnson are Cornell graduate students who fled the country in 2025 after immigration officials began targeting them over a 2024 protest against weapons suppliers to Israel.

Cornell had told both students they could keep their funding while finishing their degrees abroad.

Now the university says they must return to teach in person in Ithaca this fall or lose the only funding keeping a roof over their heads.

The danger has not gone away. ICE has opened inquiries into both students, and Taal was previously ordered to report to an ICE office. Both fear detention the moment they set foot back in the country, in facilities where conditions have drawn serious concern.

This funding is the only income either student has. "If I don't get funding, I'm going to be homeless," Taal told The Intercept.

Cornell, do right by the students you already promised to support. Do not force them to choose between their safety and their only paycheck.

Sign the petition to demand Cornell restore full funding for Momodou Taal and Amandla Thomas-Johnson without forcing them back onto a campus where their safety cannot be guaranteed.