A student at Columbia University was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in a stunning escalation of the Trump administration’s hardline immigration tactics.
Ellie Aghayeva, a social media influencer and undergraduate neuroscience student who was expected to graduate this year, was taken from her dorm room at the school’s New York City campus at 6:30 am on Thursday.
Columbia University officials and local lawmakers say ICE posed as NYPD cops and used the excuse of a phony missing child to gain access to the building—a narrative that differs sharply from ICE’s account.
In a statement to the Daily Beast, DHS called Aghayeva “an illegal alien from Azerbaijan” and said her student visa “was terminated in 2016 under the Obama administration for failing to attend classes.”
The American Association of University Professors, however, said she is an international student on a visa. Aghayeva began posting about her studies at Columbia University in 2024. It appears she has been studying in the U.S. since at least 2021, according to her Instagram.
Columbia University President Claire Shipman said that “federal agents made misrepresentations to gain entry to the building to search for a ‘missing person.’”
“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, including housing, classrooms, and areas requiring CUID swipe access,” Shipman’s statement continued.
“An administrative warrant is not sufficient,” she added.
New York state Assemblyman Micah Lasher said he was told by university officials that ICE agents had arrived at the building in plain clothes and presented themselves as New York City Police Officers. They were let into the building after showing the building superintendent a poster for a missing child.
Aghayeva’s roommate opened the door to the ICE agents, Lasher said. The building superintendent called campus police after he realized the visit was not actually about a missing child. The school’s campus has been closed to outsiders since 2024.
In text messages obtained by the university’s student newspaper, The Columbia Daily Spectator, Aghayeva texted in a groupchat with fellow students saying, “Ice is in my house.”
“They are trying to take me away,” Aghayeva wrote. “Can someone help me.”
Brad Hoylman-Sigal, the Manhattan borough president, said ICE agents “purposefully deceived campus housing/security to gain entry to the student’s apartment. The level of civil rights violations that took place is staggering.”
DHS told the Daily Beast that ICE agents “did NOT and would not identify themselves as NYPD” and claimed they had “verbally identified themselves” as federal immigration officials and wore badges around their necks.
Aghayeva is a social media influencer with more than 100,000 followers. She posts studying tips and tricks, and other school-related content at the university. Her TikTok account says she is a senior at the university and would be graduating this year.
She posted on her Instagram in a now-deleted post, “Dhs illegally arrested me. Please help”
She does not talk about politics on her social media accounts, save for one video she posted last year displaying a chart of her political ideology.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul reiterated Columbia’s statement about federal agents misrepresenting themselves.
“Let’s be clear about what happened: ICE agents didn’t have the proper warrant, so they lied to gain access to a student’s private residence,” she wrote X. “I’ve proposed a bill that would ban ICE from entering sensitive locations like schools and dorms. Let’s get it passed now.”
New York City comptroller Mark Levine also criticized DHS for the move.
“DHS entered a Columbia U. residential building—without a judicial warrant—and detained a student this a.m. Agents made misleading statements to campus security,” he said in a social media statement. “This is a dangerous escalation. It does nothing to make us safer. I am working with authorities at all levels to get clarity on this disturbing situation.”
New York City Mayor Zorhan Mamdani, who met with President Donald Trump earlier Thursday, said that she would be released “imminently.”
“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 said in a social media announcement.
Shortly after Mamdani’s statement, Aghayeva confirmed that she had been released from ICE detention and was going back to her apartment.
“I am safe and okay,” she wrote, adding, “I am so sorry but I am in complete shock over what happened.”
In the last few years, Columbia University has been the ire of the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans, who have accused the school of not doing enough to protect Jewish students from discrimination.
The university reached a $221 million settlement with the administration last year to restore funding that Trump had pulled over alleged violations of federal anti-discrimination laws.
Last year, ICE detained Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil for over three months over his involvement in the school’s 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment on campus. His detainment was widely criticized by Democrats and free speech advocates.
