Elmina Aghayeva Released After ICE Detention Following Mamdani Meeting With Trump
Columbia University student elmina aghayeva was detained early Thursday by federal immigration agents and walked free hours later after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he raised her case with President Donald Trump during an unrelated meeting.
Elmina Aghayeva’s arrest and release
The student was taken early Thursday, triggering protests on campus, and was allowed to go free after Mamdani posted that he had expressed concerns to Trump and that the president agreed to release her immediately. Minutes after the mayor’s post, Aghayeva wrote on Instagram, “I am safe and okay, ” and said she was in “complete shock. ”
How agents entered the building
The acting president of the university, Claire Shipman, said in a video that shortly after 6 a. m. ET five federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security entered an off-campus Columbia residential building without a warrant and gained access by saying they were police searching for a missing child. Shipman said security cameras captured agents in the hallway showing pictures of the alleged missing child, and a public safety officer repeatedly asked the agents for a search warrant; Shipman said a warrant was not produced and the agents declined the officer’s request to call his boss before Aghayeva was taken.
Conflicting accounts of identity and entry
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Homeland Security Investigations agents verbally identified themselves and visibly wore badges and did not identify as NYPD. A separate DHS statement said the student’s visa had been terminated in 2016 for failing to attend classes and that she had no pending appeals or applications with DHS; that statement also said the building manager and her roommate let officers into the apartment. A spokesperson named Tricia McLaughlin denied allegations that agents had impersonated New York City police officers and did not answer whether the agents had claimed to be searching for a missing person.
Names, background and social media response
Statements and posts used two versions of the student’s name: one identified her as Ellie Aghayeva while others used Elmina Aghayeva. The university described her as a senior from Azerbaijan studying neuroscience and politics. Aghayeva, who has more than 100, 000 followers on Instagram and describes herself as a content creator who posts day-in-the-life videos and tips for immigrants navigating college, posted a photo that appeared to show her legs in the backseat of a vehicle and wrote initially, “DHS illegally arrested me. Please help. ”
Broader context on enforcement and campus reaction
The arrest prompted campus protests and fed concerns about federal enforcement tactics. The statement noted that the use of disguises or misrepresentations by immigration authorities has been seen in Minneapolis and elsewhere; the practice is legal in most cases, but immigration attorneys say such ruses are becoming more common. The university has said it never provided DHS or ICE assistance in arresting students. The DHS statement described the student as having entered the country on a visa in or around 2016 and said her student visa was terminated in 2016 under the Obama administration for failing to attend classes.
During the same meeting with Trump in which Mamdani raised Aghayeva’s case, Mamdani was pitching a massive housing project and also urged the president to drop cases against several current and former students facing deportation for their roles in protests against Israel. The arrest was noted amid renewed presidential scrutiny of universities, with recent attacks on institutions including Harvard and UCLA and a settlement in which Columbia agreed to pay more than $220 million to the administration over the summer.
Aghayeva’s Instagram story said she had just been released and was “in an uber otw [on the way] home, ” adding she was being inundated with calls from reporters and needed time to process the experience but would “come back soon. ”
