Cornell University is requiring two graduate students who left the United States amid immigration enforcement concerns to return to Ithaca for teaching assignments or risk losing university funding, according to The Ithaca Voice.
Momodou Taal and Amandla Thomas-Johnson, who participated in a 2024 pro-Palestinian protest, left the country in 2025 after becoming subjects of federal immigration inquiries and say they fear detention if they return.
Both students said Cornell had previously indicated they could continue their studies with funding while abroad, while the university says its funding policies have not changed and are unrelated to protest activity.
Cornell told the students they could return for in-person teaching work, seek external fellowship funding, pay tuition themselves or take leave, and the graduate student union has filed grievances over the arrangement.
Taal and Thomas-Johnson say losing funding would threaten their ability to pay for basic living expenses as they continue working toward their degrees.
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