President Donald Trump said a Columbia University student detained Thursday by federal immigration authorities would be released after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani raised the case during a meeting at the White House.
The student, identified as Ellie Aghayeva, had been taken into custody early Thursday morning after Department of Homeland Security agents entered a Columbia residential building in Manhattan. Hours later, Mamdani disclosed on social media that he had discussed the detention directly with Trump during a meeting focused on housing policy.
“In our meeting earlier, I shared my concerns about Columbia student Elaina Aghayeva, who was detained by ICE this morning,” Mamdani wrote on X. “He has just informed me that she will be released imminently.”
CNN later confirmed Aghayeva’s release. The student also posted on Instagram verifying she had been freed after earlier sharing a message from the back of a vehicle that read, “DHS illegally arrested me. Please help.”
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained Aghayeva but did not directly address Columbia University’s assertion that agents misrepresented their purpose to gain access to the building. In a statement distributed to media outlets, DHS said Aghayeva’s student visa had been terminated in 2016 during the Obama administration for failure to attend classes and that she had no pending appeals or applications with the agency.
Columbia University Acting President Claire Shipman said agents entered the building at approximately 6:30 a.m. and that administrators were still gathering details. She indicated that the university believes federal officers claimed they were searching for a “missing person” in order to gain entry to nonpublic residential space.
“Our understanding at this time is that the federal agents made misrepresentations to gain entry to the building,” Shipman wrote in a message to the campus community. She reiterated university policy requiring law enforcement to present a judicial warrant or subpoena before accessing dormitories and other restricted facilities.
A spokesperson indicated that the building manager and Aghayeva’s roommate permitted officers into the apartment. Columbia said it was working to contact the student’s family and provide legal support.
Aghayeva, originally from Azerbaijan, is a senior majoring in neuroscience and political science, according to the American Association of University Professors, which confirmed her identity after being alerted by Columbia’s AAUP chapter.
The detention drew swift reaction from local and federal officials. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul criticized the enforcement action, asserting on X that ICE agents did not possess the appropriate judicial warrant and used deception to access the student’s residence. Democratic lawmakers including Rep. Jerry Nadler and Rep. Adriano Espaillat also condemned the arrest, describing it as alarming for students and faculty.
The case unfolded nearly a year after federal authorities detained Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, who spent more than 100 days in ICE custody in 2025 and continues to contest deportation proceedings. Another Columbia student, Ranjani Srinivasan, was also detained during campus protests last year before leaving the country.
Aghayeva’s release following Mamdani’s intervention underscores the political stakes surrounding immigration enforcement at universities. While DHS cited visa compliance issues, the rapid reversal after the mayor’s appeal to Trump illustrates how high-profile detentions can quickly escalate into national political matters.
Presidential involvement in an individual ICE case is uncommon and signals both the visibility of the situation and the administration’s responsiveness to local leadership. For Mamdani, raising the issue during an unrelated housing discussion demonstrates the growing intersection between municipal governance and federal immigration policy.
The episode also spotlights the ongoing debate over ICE access to educational institutions. Universities across the country have strengthened protocols requiring judicial warrants for entry into nonpublic campus areas, seeking to balance compliance with federal law and protection of student rights.
At the same time, DHS’s statement regarding Aghayeva’s visa termination may prompt renewed scrutiny over how long-standing immigration status issues are enforced and whether adequate notice was provided. The department has not indicated whether further proceedings will continue.
The swift release may ease immediate tensions, but the broader questions remain unresolved: how immigration enforcement should operate on campuses, what procedural safeguards must be honored, and how political intervention shapes individual cases.
By Thursday evening, Aghayeva was no longer in federal custody, closing a dramatic day that moved from an early-morning detention in Manhattan to a White House-level discussion and a same-day release — a rare sequence in immigration enforcement matters.
