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A Columbia University student detained by ICE was released later in the day after New York mayor Zohran Mamdani said he raised the issue with President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
VW Pics\/Universal Images Group Editorial\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security detained a Columbia University student at an off-campus residence hall Thursday morning, <\/strong>according to a message from Claire Shipman, acting president of Columbia, to students and staff. <\/p>\n Shipman said Thursday night that the federal agents gained entry by stating they were police searching for a missing child. The agents didn\u2019t have \u201cany kind of warrant,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n The student, Ellie Aghayeva, a senior from Azerbaijan, was released Thursday afternoon. (That morning, she had posted, \u201cDhs illegally arrested me. Please help.\u201d)<\/p>\n \u201cI just got out a little while ago,\u201d she wrote on Instagram. \u201cI am safe and ok.\u201d She described feeling \u201cin complete shock over what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n The news of her release came shortly after New York mayor Zohran Mamdani posted on X that he spoke with President Donald Trump about the issue. <\/p>\n \u201cJust got off the phone with President Trump,\u201d Mamdani wrote. \u201cIn our meeting earlier, I shared my concerns about Columbia student Elaina Aghayeva, who was detained by ICE this morning. He has just informed me that she will be released imminently.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier in the day, a DHS spokesperson said in a statement to The Guardian<\/em> that Aghayeva\u2019s student visa was terminated in 2016 because she failed to attend class. The statement said the building manager and Aghayeva\u2019s roommate let federal agents into the apartment.<\/p>\n Columbia security cameras captured the agents showing photos of the alleged missing child, Shipman said. Once the agents made it to Aghayeva\u2019s apartment, \u201cit became clear they had misrepresented themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Shipman added that a public safety officer on the scene asked multiple times for a warrant, which was not produced, as well as more time to call his boss\u2014a request the agents denied.<\/p>\n \u201cThe agents took our student,\u201d she said. \u201cThis was a frightening and fast-moving situation and utterly unacceptable for our students and staff. We started work immediately to gain her release. We are so grateful for the help and support we got from the mayor and the governor.\u201d<\/p>\n Shipman added that \u201cmisrepresenting identity and other facts to gain access to a residential building is a breach of protocol.\u201d<\/p>\n Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors, said its members are \u201coutraged\u201d by reports DHS agents misrepresented themselves to enter the dorm.<\/p>\n \u201cIf these reports are accurate, this is a dangerous abuse of state power that threatens due process, undermines trust and safety on our campuses, and sends a chilling message to international students and scholars across the country,\u201d Wolfson said in a statement. \u201cUniversities must not become extensions of immigration enforcement or sites of fear and intimidation.\u201d<\/p>\n