A Columbia University student detained Thursday by federal immigration authorities was released after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with President Donald Trump earlier in the day.
Mamdani said he met with the president in Washington on Thursday to discuss housing availability and raised concerns about the detention of Columbia student Elmina Aghayeva, who was taken into custody on Thursday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Aghayeva confirmed the release in a post on Instagram, writing, “I just got out a little while ago. I am safe and okay.”
“I am so sorry but I am in complete shock over what happened and my phone is blowing up with calls from reporters. I need a little but of time to process everything. I will come back soon. But please don’t worry. I love you all,” she concluded.
Federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security detained Aghayeva after entering a Columbia University residential building in Manhattan.
Acting Columbia President Claire Shipman alleged the agents gained access by claiming they were investigating a missing person, a claim Shipman described as a misrepresentation.
Shipman said the university did not receive a judicial warrant before entering nonpublic campus housing and that officials were working to support the student and her family while seeking information about the arrest.
Hours before Aghayeva’s release, Mamdani met with Trump at the White House to pitch a housing initiative in New York City, presenting the president with a newspaper mockup reading “TRUMP TO CITY: LET’S BUILD” next to the iconic 1975 New York Daily News headline “FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD” after then-President Gerald Ford declined to provide a bankrupt New York City with a federal bailout.
Roughly an hour after posting a photo of the newspaper mockup, Mamdani said he spoke by phone with Trump, who promised Aghayeva would be released.
Aghayeva reportedly posted on social media claiming that DHS had “illegally arrested” her.
Following Aghayeva’s detainment, a spokesperson for DHS told the Washington Examiner that the student, originally from Azerbaijan, had overstayed her student visa, which was terminated in 2016 for failing to attend class. DHS said the building manager and her roommate let officers into the apartment.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT SAYS DHS AGENTS MISREPRESENTED THEMSELVES TO DETAIN STUDENT IN DORMS
The events on Columbia’s campus sparked outrage from students and politicians about the circumstances. Students protested in the streets holding signs that said “abolish ICE” and “no one is legal on stolen land.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called the detainment “outrageous” and “unacceptable.”
Columbia students protested Trump’s immigration policies before, as well as protests related to the war in Gaza that began in 2023. Several Columbia-affiliated students were detained during a pro-Palestine protest in 2025, including graduate student Mahmoud Khali. Outrage over his arrest later prompted a federal judge to block his deportation.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the White House for comment.
