Fed-up Republicans have urged universities to get tough on international students who run roughshod over campus rules with unauthorized pro-Palestinian protests, and now it appears that Cornell University has done so.

Momodou Taal, a graduate student from the U.K., said he faces deportation back to Britain over his participation in a rowdy anti-Israel protest last week that shut down a career fair attended by defense contractors, including Boeing and L3Harris.

It was the second suspension for Mr. Taal, 30, described as a leader of the pro-Palestinian protests that have roiled the university since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israeli civilians, which prompted Israel to declare war.

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“They are doing this to shift the focus away from their complicity in genocide,” Mr. Taal told the Cornell Sun, the student newspaper. “It’s telling that they think it’s more important to suspend me than taking seriously their investment in the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians.”

Joel Malina, Cornell vice president for university relations, said international students attending U.S. colleges on F-1 visas “are obligated to comply with federal requirements to maintain their visa status.”

“These federal requirements include remaining enrolled as a full-time registered student,” he said in a Tuesday email to The Washington Times. “Universities are required by federal regulation to terminate the F-1 status for any student who is not permitted to be enrolled due to a disciplinary action.”

He stressed that universities “can disallow enrollment and bar a student from campus, but do not have deportation powers.”

Mr. Taal retorted Tuesday on X: “They will claim it’s not a deportation but effectively it is.”

Cornell Interim President Michael I. Kotlikoff did not address Mr. Taal’s situation directly, but said in a statement that protesters “displayed highly disruptive and intentionally menacing behavior in a protest that shut down a career fair at the Statler Hotel.”

“The demonstrators forcibly entered the hotel by pushing aside Cornell Police officers,” he said in the Monday message. “The protesters loudly marched through the hotel lobby and up the stairs, frightening students, staff, and recruiters.”

After forcing their way past officers, “the demonstrators screamed into bullhorns and banged cymbals, pots and pans, resulting in medical complaints of potential hearing loss. The protesters shouted profanity, disrupted display tables, and alarmed students who had been talking with employers,” he said.

“Actions have consequences, on campus and in the criminal justice system,” Mr. Kotlikoff said. “Individuals who entered the Statler and disrupted the career fair face immediate suspension or employment sanctions up to and including dismissal.”

University police said that Mr. Taal refused to comply with orders during the protest, according to an email from Christina Liang, director of the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, obtained by the Sun.

In the email, Ms. Liang said that Mr. Taal demonstrated “escalating, egregious behavior and a disregard for the University policies” and called him in for a same-day meeting, during which he was handed a copy of the “no trespass” order.

“Liang told Taal that his F-1 visa would be terminated, and referred him to a senior immigration advisor,” the student newspaper reported.

This guy is one of the lead protestors at Cornell.

When the student government denied his group’s divestment resolution, he and others vowed to repeatedly disrupt the campus, which they did.

He was suspended last year too.

Looks like Cornell might be done messing around. pic.twitter.com/1ihHpOo5Mp

— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) September 24, 2024

Some students and faculty are rallying behind him, circulating an online petition entitled, “We Demand the Reinstatement of Momodou Taal,” which called it “the first time a Cornell graduate worker is facing immediate deportation without administrative due process.”

Others praised the university for enforcing its “time, place and manner” restrictions when it comes to the pro-Palestinian activism accused of creating a hostile environment for Jewish students.

“This guy is one of the lead protestors at Cornell,” said Steve McGuire, a fellow at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.

“When the student government denied his group’s divestment resolution, he and others vowed to repeatedly disrupt the campus, which they did. He was suspended last year too,” he added.

Mr. McGuire concluded: “Looks like Cornell might be done messing around.”