Mamdani says Trump agreed to immediately release the Colombia student in ICE custody

NEW YORK (AP) — A Columbia University student was arrested Thursday by federal immigration agents who claimed to be searching for a “missing person” in order to gain access to a campus apartment, according to her lawyer and the school’s president.

Hours after she was detained, New York City Mayor Zahran Mamdani said in a social media post that he discussed the arrest during an unrelated meeting with President Donald Trump, who agreed to release the student “immediately.”

Read more: A judge orders the release of Columbia University protester Mahmoud Khalil from an immigration detention center

Student Elli Aghayeva is a final year student from Azerbaijan studying neuroscience and political science. She describes herself as a content creator, and has amassed a large following on social media by sharing daily videos and tips about navigating college as an immigrant.

At approximately 7:00 a.m., Agayeva posted a message to her more than 100,000 Instagram followers: “I have been illegally arrested by the Department of Homeland Security. Please help.” The photo accompanying the post shows the back seat of the car.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed Aghayeva’s arrest and said her student visa was terminated in 2016 for not attending classes. The spokeswoman did not respond to questions regarding when or if she would be released.

In an emergency motion, Aghaeva’s lawyers said she entered the country on a visa in or around 2016. They said she was taken into custody early Thursday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who did not have a warrant but “claimed they were looking for a missing person to gain entry” to the university-owned apartment.

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She was being held at the federal detention center in lower Manhattan, the lawyers wrote. They declined to provide additional comment, including details about her immigration status.

In an email shared with students and staff, acting university president Claire Shipman said federal agents entered an apartment building at about 6:30 a.m., claiming to be searching for a missing person.

She said that the university is in the process of communicating with the student’s family and providing him with legal support.

The use of disguises or other misrepresentations by immigration authorities has drawn attention in recent months, after federal agents were seen posing as utility workers and other on-duty employees in Minneapolis and elsewhere.

This practice is legal in most cases. But immigration lawyers say such scams are becoming increasingly common, raising concerns about the Trump administration’s dramatic reshaping of immigration enforcement tactics nationwide.

This incident comes nearly a year after federal agents detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student and Palestinian activist, inside his university-owned residence. Khalil is out on bail and is fighting his deportation case.

In the months following his arrest, many students called on the university to do more to secure the campus from federal immigration authorities.

Columbia University currently requires that all law enforcement personnel have a warrant or subpoena to access non-public areas of the university, including housing.

In her email, Shipman said students should not allow law enforcement personnel into non-public areas of the university and should not accept delivery of a warrant or subpoena, but should contact campus public safety instead.