A Columbia University student who was detained Thursday by federal immigration agents said in a social media post that she had been released.
Her post came after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said that President Donald Trump told him that she would be released imminently.
“In our meeting earlier, I shared my concerns about Columbia student Elaina Aghayeva, who was detained by ICE this morning,” Mamdani posted on X, referring to his meeting in the White House on Thursday. He spoke to Trump after the meeting by phone.
“I am safe and okay,” Aghayeva said, adding that she is in an Uber on her way home.
Earlier this morning, agents from the Department of Homeland Security entered a Columbia residential building and detained a student after making misrepresentations to gain entry to the property, according to university Acting President Claire Shipman.
She didn’t name the student but US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said they arrested Elmina Aghayeva, an individual from Azerbaijan whose student visa was revoked in 2016 for not attending classes.
The agents arrived around 6:30 a.m. at 501 West 121st Street, a university-managed residential building outside Columbia’s main gated campus in Morningside Heights, according to a person familiar with the matter. They had identified themselves as New York City police officers searching for a missing person, the person said, who asked not to be identified when discussing a private matter.
“It is important to reiterate that all law enforcement agents must have a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena to access non-public areas of the University, including housing, classrooms, and areas requiring CUID swipe access,” Shipman said in a message to the Columbia community on Thursday.
The school filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus seeking her release, the person familiar with the situation said. A building superintendent allowed the agents inside after they said they were with the New York Police Department and were looking for a missing girl, the person said. The agents spoke with the student’s roommate before taking the student into custody.
“A rogue deportation agenda is operating with zero transparency and even less accountability,” said Governor Kathy Hochul in a statement that referenced the Columbia incident. “No one should disappear at the hands of the government. No student should be taken from their dorm through deception. These incidents demand an independent investigation and real accountability.”
Hours after the detention, hundreds of demonstrators gathered near Columbia’s campus in Upper Manhattan to protest the detention. They carried anti-ICE signs and opposed the presence of immigration officers in New York City.
Columbia has been under pressure from the Trump administration following campus protests after the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. The federal government had frozen research funding amid accusations that the school mishandled complaints of antisemitism from Jewish students.
Last year, Columbia reached a settlement agreement with the administration to restore the research funds, with the school paying $221 million.
