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By Diego Ramos / Original to ScheerPost
Update as of 4:34 PM EST: Ellie Aghayeva has been released. Per her Instagram post, she wrote, “I just got out a little while ago. I am safe and okay.”
Update as of 4:12 PM EST: After New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with President Donald Trump and asked about Ellie Aghayeva, Mamdani confirms that Trump will release Aghayeva “imminently”.
A Columbia international student was detained by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents today after agents “misrepresented” themselves to gain access to a residential building without a judicial warrant.
Ellie Aghayeva, a neuroscience international student, was detained by DHS agents this morning in an alleged search for a missing person. Aghayeva posted on her Instagram story a blurry image from the back of a vehicle with the caption, “Dhs illegally arrested me. Please help.”
Columbia Acting President Claire Shipman released a statement this morning stating that DHS agents “made misrepresentations to gain entry to the building…”
In a report from The Intercept, DHS said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Aghayeva for “for not having a proper student visa.”
The Intercept also obtained a letter written by students to New York City Council Majority Leader Shaun Abreu who gathered information on the incident, claiming that a security guard told them the federal agents “were presented as NYPD alongside Columbia Public Safety.”
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal posted on X,
“ICE used a phony missing persons bulletin for a 5 year old girl. It is unconfirmed at this time whether they impersonated an officer to do so.
They purposefully deceived campus housing/security to gain entry to the student’s apartment.
The level of civil rights violations that took place is staggering.”
Shipman emphasized that an administrative warrant is not enough for law enforcement to access non-public areas of the University, such as the Columbia-owned building Aghayeva was abducted from.
Columbia’s student newspaper, the Columbia Spectator, reported that Shipman wrote an email to students alerting them that the university is providing legal support to Aghayeva, “marking the first time a University president has explicitly acknowledged providing legal support to a student detained by DHS in a Universitywide email,” according to the report.
Since Mahmoud Khalil’s infamous arrest on March 8, 2025 from a Columbia University-owned residence, this marks the first time a Columbia student has been detained by DHS. Khalil’s arrest and detainment for 104 days in a Louisiana detention center fueled protests across the country in a resurgence from the 2024 encampment movement.
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin posted a joint statement with Abreu on her X account reading,
“ICE has no place in our schools and universities. These activities do not make our city or country safer, but rather drive mistrust and danger. As Columbia College alumni, our hearts are with the community there, and we have been in contact with the University to offer our assistance.”
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Diego Ramos
Diego Ramos, ScheerPost Special Projects Editor and New York bureau chief, is a journalist from Queens, NY. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He has previously worked at BuzzFeed News and was managing editor of Annenberg News at USC. He’s covered and researched myriad topics including war, politics, psychedelic research and sports.