Ellie Aghayeva Released After 'Deceptive' ICE Arrest Following Zohran Mamdani's Meeting With Trump

A Columbia University student was released from federal custody on Thursday after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he secured assurances from President Donald Trump during an Oval Office meeting in Washington, following what campus leaders called a 'deceptive' ICE arrest at the Ivy League school's Morningside Heights housing.

The case of, a member of Columbia's class of 2026, has quickly become more than a dispute over a single immigration arrest. It has triggered a row between university leaders and the US Department of Homeland Security over how the operation was conducted, drawn in some of New York's most powerful elected officials and exposed the fragile boundary between campus life and federal immigration enforcement.

What is clear is that Aghayeva was detained and later freed. What remains sharply contested is whether ICE agents misled building staff to get inside her flat and whether they complied with the legal standards Columbia says must govern any such raid.

How Ellie Aghayeva's ICE Arrest Unfolded

According to Columbia's acting president, Claire Shipman, the episode began shortly after 6am on Thursday, when five agents arrived at an off‑campus residential building used by students near Columbia's Morningside Heights campus in New York. In a message to the university community, Shipman said the officers entered the building 'without any kind of warrant' after telling staff they were police searching for a missing child.

Shipman said the agents then went up to Aghayeva's apartment 'with the same story', allegedly showing pictures of the supposed missing five‑year‑old girl. Security cameras reportedly captured the officers presenting those photos as they moved through the building.

'Once inside the apartment, it became clear they had misrepresented themselves,' Shipman wrote, adding that a campus public safety officer repeatedly asked for a warrant, which was not produced. The officer also requested time to call a supervisor, she said, but that request was refused.

In the hours after her detention, Aghayeva, who is slated to graduate this year, posted a message on Instagram that read: 'Dhs illegally arrested me. Please help,' over a point‑of‑view photograph apparently taken from the back seat of a car. The spelling of 'Dhs' matches her post but refers to the Department of Homeland Security.

Contrast of DHS' Account of Arrest

DHS offered a starkly different account. In a statement to the New York Post, the department said the building manager and Aghayeva's roommate let ICE officers into the flat, insisting that agents were wearing badges and 'swiftly identified themselves' as law enforcement.

That directly contradicts the university's claim that officers posed as local police involved in a missing‑child investigation. Nothing in the publicly available material fully resolves which version is accurate, so those details should, for now, be treated with caution.

Federal officials also said Aghayeva is an 'illegal immigrant' from Azerbaijan whose student visa was terminated in 2016 under the Obama administration for failing to attend classes, though Columbia currently lists her as a member of the class of 2026. Neither DHS nor the university has provided a fuller explanation of that discrepancy.

Zohran Mamdani, Trump and the 'Deceptive' ICE Arrest

The rapid shift from pre‑dawn raid to release appears to have hinged on an unlikely intervention at the highest level of US politics. Mamdani, who was in Washington on Thursday for an unannounced meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, posted later that afternoon that he had raised Aghayeva's detention directly with the president.

'Just got off the phone with President Trump. 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,' Mamdani wrote on X.

Hours later, Columbia confirmed that outcome. 'The university is relieved and thrilled that our student, Ellie, has been released from detainment. We will share additional details this evening,' the institution said in an Instagram statement. Photographers later captured Aghayeva leaving custody, walking down a New York street with a coat pulled over her head.

Columbia, Civil Liberties and the Fallout From Ellie Aghayeva's Case

Shipman continued in a statement, calling it 'a frightening and fast‑moving situation and utterly unacceptable for our students and staff'. She stressed that Columbia had immediately begun working to secure Aghayeva's release and used the moment to restate the university's position on law enforcement access to student housing.

'Let me be clear — misrepresenting identity and other facts to gain access to a residential building is a breach of protocol,' she wrote. She added that all agencies, including DHS and ICE, 'must follow established legal and ethical standards', and that 'all law enforcement agencies must have a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena to gain access to a Columbia residential building'.

Democratic officials across New York lined up behind that view. Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman‑Sigal accused agents on X of having 'purposefully deceived campus housing/security to gain entry to the student's apartment', describing what happened as a 'staggering' civil‑rights violation.

City Council Speaker Julie Menin, herself a Columbia alumna, said the episode was 'disturbing' and that 'ICE has no place in our schools and universities'. She argued such actions 'do not make our city or country safer, but rather drive mistrust and danger', and said she had been in contact with the university to offer assistance.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul went further, using the incident to push for new state‑level restrictions. She condemned the arrest as 'unacceptable' and said she would propose legislation barring ICE from entering 'sensitive locations' such as schools and dormitories. 'Let's get it passed now,' she wrote.

US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also weighed in, demanding 'immediate answers' about Aghayeva's whereabouts while she remained in custody and saying his office was working with Columbia and relevant authorities.

Columbia has promised additional guidance and resources for students, faculty and staff as they process what happened.

'Thank you all for your support of this institution, and the people who make Columbia what it is. And I know our thoughts are with Ellie, her roommate, and all of the affected students and staff tonight,' Shipman said in her message.