Detained Columbia student released after Mamdani call with Trump
Federal agents allegedly gained entry to student's residence by posing as police officers searching for a missing child, sparking a major civil rights row.
A Columbia University student who was detained by federal immigration agents has been released, hours after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he raised the case directly with US President Donald Trump.
Ellie Aghayeva confirmed her release in a post on Instagram, writing: "I just got out a little while ago. I am safe and okay. In an uber otw home."
In a separate post, she added: "I need a little bit of time to process everything. I will come back soon. But please don't worry."
Mamdani said he had spoken to Trump after meeting him earlier in the day.
"In our meeting earlier, I shared my concerns about Columbia student Elaina Aghayeva, who was detained by ICE this morning," the mayor wrote on X.
He said the president informed him she would be "released imminently".
Aghayeva had been arrested early on Thursday morning by federal immigration officers at a university residential building.
Columbia's acting president, Claire Shipman, said federal agents entered the building at about 6:30 am.
She said the university's understanding was that agents made misrepresentations to gain entry while searching for a "missing person".
"Our understanding at this time is that the federal agents made misrepresentations to gain entry to the building to search for a 'missing person'," Shipman said in a statement, adding that law enforcement requires a judicial warrant or subpoena to access non-public university areas such as housing.
The Department of Homeland Security identified the student as Elmina Aghayeva from Azerbaijan and said she was in the United States illegally.
"ICE arrested Elmina Aghayeva, an illegal alien from Azerbaijan, whose student visa was terminated in 2016 under the Obama administration for failing to attend classes," DHS said in a statement.
The department said the building manager and a roommate allowed officers into the apartment and denied agents identified themselves as New York police officers.
A spokesperson for the New York Police Department said the department was not involved in the arrest.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul accused immigration agents of lying to gain access to the residence, writing on X that agents "didn't have the proper warrant".
The incident prompted protests outside Columbia's campus gates, with students and faculty criticising the university's handling of the situation.
Columbia's Shipman said that when law enforcement seeks entry to residential buildings, officers should be asked to wait while campus security coordinates the university's response.
Arrests of students in campus housing remain uncommon, even amid the Trump administration's broader immigration crackdown. Previous detentions at Columbia followed pro-Palestinian protests last year.