Federal immigration agents detained a Columbia University student early Thursday, triggering campus protests and accusations that officers gained entry to a residence by pretending to be police looking for a missing child. The student, Ellie Aghayeva, was taken into custody hours before the government suddenly reversed course and released her after an apparent intervention by President Donald Trump, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.
Mamdani posted on social media that he raised concerns about the arrest during an unrelated White House meeting with Trump, who agreed to have her released immediately. Shortly after that post, Aghayeva wrote on Instagram that she was safe and in shock. Her lawyers and Columbia’s acting president, Claire Shipman, said five federal agents entered her apartment around 6 a.m. after telling residence staff they were police searching for a missing child. Security camera footage, Shipman said, shows agents in a hallway displaying photos of the alleged missing child.
Aghayeva, a senior from Azerbaijan studying neuroscience and politics who maintains a large social media presence with day-in-the-life and college-advice videos, has not been publicly linked to the pro-Palestinian protests that have unsettled Columbia. During the arrest she posted that the Department of Homeland Security had illegally detained her, along with a photo that appeared to show her legs inside the back seat of a vehicle.
A DHS spokesperson said Aghayeva’s student visa was terminated in 2016 for failing to attend classes, that she was placed in removal proceedings and was released while awaiting a hearing. DHS disputed reports that agents posed as New York City police officers but did not answer whether agents claimed they were searching for a missing child. Aghayeva’s attorneys declined to discuss further details of her immigration status.
Reports of immigration agents using disguises or misrepresenting their identity have drawn scrutiny after similar tactics were documented in Minnesota and other states. While such ruses can be legal in many circumstances, immigration lawyers say they are being used more often, raising alarm about shifting enforcement methods under the Trump administration.
The incident underscored an unexpected rapport between Trump and Mamdani, a democratic socialist whom Trump had once threatened to deport. Mamdani was at the White House for discussions about a major housing proposal and also urged the president to drop cases against several students and former students facing deportation related to campus protests over Israel.
Critics warned the arrest could signal renewed federal attention on universities. Columbia last year agreed to pay more than $220 million in a settlement with the administration, and many professors and staff have pledged to protect campus communities. Michael Thaddeus, a Columbia mathematics professor and vice president of the university chapter of the American Association of University Professors, described the episode as a chilling sign that federal enforcement may be returning to the campus.
Columbia advised residential staff not to admit federal law enforcement into university buildings without a subpoena or warrant and urged the campus community to alert Public Safety immediately if DHS or ICE agents are spotted conducting enforcement near campus. The university also pointed to last March’s arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a former graduate student and pro-Palestinian activist whose deportation case is still pending, as part of broader concerns for international students’ safety.