President Trump personally assured Mayor Zohran Mamdani that a Columbia University student detained by federal agents would be released “imminently,” and she was indeed set free much faster than you might expect. The student in question, Ellie Aghayeva, is an international student in her senior year at Columbia, studying neuroscience and political science.
Aghayeva found herself detained early Thursday morning after federal agents entered a residential building on campus. It’s a pretty intense situation when federal agents show up on a university campus, especially when there are conflicting accounts of how they even got in.
Columbia University was quick to issue a statement, making it clear they weren’t happy with how things went down. Claire Shipman, the acting president of the school, stated that immigration officials “made misrepresentations to gain entry to the building” to arrest Aghayeva. The university is pretty firm on its policy: it doesn’t just let federal agents into nonpublic buildings without a judicial warrant.
Mamdani has a spell over Trump, it seems
Shipman even laid out the protocol, telling staff, “If law enforcement agents seek entry to non-public areas of the University, ask the agents to wait to enter any non-public areas until contacting Public Safety.” She stressed that Public Safety would then contact the Office of the General Counsel to coordinate the university’s response.
Mayor Mamdani shared his own update on X after his meeting with President Trump. He wrote, “In 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.” And true to the president’s word, Aghayeva was released later that very same day. Notably, the meeting also bears good news for NYC’s housing crisis.
However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has a different take on the events surrounding Aghayeva’s detention. In a statement, DHS clarified that Aghayeva’s visa was actually terminated way back in 2016 because she failed to attend class. Under President Trump, DHS has especially targeted pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses.
DHS also countered Columbia’s claim about entry, stating that “The building manager and her roommate let officers into the apartment.” They also noted that Aghayeva has no pending appeals or applications with DHS, which would typically be a pathway for international students dealing with visa issues.
So, while Columbia asserts that federal agents used misrepresentations to get into the building, DHS maintains that they were let in by the building manager and Aghayeva’s roommate.
Published: Feb 27, 2026 01:30 pm