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A Columbia University student was reportedly taken by federal immigration agents who lied in order to gain entry into her residence, the university’s president said in a statement on the Thursday morning arrest, which critics have described as an abduction.
The detained student has been identified as Ellie Aghayeva, an undergrad majoring in neuroscience and political science.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement on Thursday afternoon that he has spoken to President Donald Trump, who informed him that Aghayeva would be released “imminently.” Mamdani said he expressed concern for the student in a meeting in D.C. on Thursday.
At 6:30 am Thursday morning, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents entered one of the university’s residential buildings and detained a student, according to a statement by the university’s acting president, Claire Shipman.
“Our understanding at this time is that the federal agents made misrepresentations to gain entry to the building to search for a ‘missing person,’” said Shipman. “It is important to reiterate that all law enforcement agents must have a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena to access non-public areas of the University.”
A statement released by her family and friends via the American Association of University Professors said that Aghayeva is an international student with a visa. On her Instagram, she posted a story appearing to show her in the back of a vehicle saying: “Dhs illegally arrested me. Please help.”
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal said in a post on X that federal agents “used a phony missing persons bulletin for a 5 year old girl” in order to gain entry to her residence, and that it’s unclear if they “impersonated an officer to do so.”
“The level of civil rights violations that took place is staggering,” Hoylman-Sigal said.
Columbia’s student workers’ union said that they are gearing up for a strike after the arrest, noting that the arrest took place just a day after their rally urging Columbia’s leadership to bar DHS agents from campus.
“During bargaining, Columbia’s team insisted that the University is already doing a ‘fantastic job’ protecting non-citizen student workers. How can that be true when our students are getting snatched from their homes under false pretenses?” the union said.
DHS claimed in a statement that Aghayeva doesn’t have a proper student visa, per The Intercept, but DHS has a history of lying about its activities.
The abduction comes roughly a year after the arrests of Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi and activist Mahmoud Khalil, both of whom were detained by immigration agents as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on Palestinians and pro-Palestine activists. A federal judge ruled this month that the Trump administration cannot deport Mahdawi, while Khalil’s case is still ongoing.
Faculty, students, and community members swiftly gathered outside of the university’s gates in order to protest Aghayeva’s detention, with protesters holding signs saying, “Where was the signed judicial warrant Claire?” Columbia leaders have previously defended not making the campus a sanctuary for immigrants by saying that the university requires agents to have warrants to enter non-public areas, which has garnered criticism from immigration advocates.
Columbia University Apartheid Divest condemned Aghayeva’s arrest as a kidnapping.
“This is the result of Columbia refusing the union’s demands for substantive protections for international students,” the group said. “According to their school-wide email, their plan when this happens is for general counsel to ‘coordinate a response’ instead of committing to deny entry from the start.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul condemned the arrest, saying: “Let’s be clear about what happened: [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents didn’t have the proper warrant, so they lied to gain access to a student’s private residence. I’ve proposed a bill that would ban ICE from entering sensitive locations like schools and dorms. Let’s get it passed now.”
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