Protesters rally against ICE at Columbia University in New York, February 5, 2026.Michael M. Santiago/Getty
Update: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on X on Thursday that he shared his concerns with President Donald Trump about Aghayeva’s detainment. “He has just informed me that she will be released imminently,” Mamdani wrote. Just before 4 p.m. ET, Aghayeva posted on Instagram that she had been released and was in an Uber home. “I am safe and okay,” she wrote, adding, “but I am in complete shock over what happened.”
Federal immigration agents detained a Columbia University student on Thursday morning after reportedly gaining access to university housing by falsely claiming they were looking for a missing person, according to Claire Shipman, Columbia’s acting president.
The Department of Homeland Security went after Ellie Aghayeva, a senior majoring in neuroscience and political science, according to a statement released by her friends to a faculty organization, the American Association of University Professors. The statement said that Aghayeva, who is from Azerbaijan, is an international student with a visa.
Aghayeva posted a photo of what appears to be her sitting in a car on her Instagram story Thursday morning with an overlay of text: “Dhs illegally arrested me. Please help.”
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal wrote on X that federal agents “used a phony missing persons bulletin for a 5 year old girl” when they “purposefully deceived campus housing/security to gain entry to the student’s apartment.”
Shipman, in her statement, said the university was “working to gather more details.” New York outlet The City is reporting that Aghayeva has already filed a habeas corpus petition asking a federal judge to order her release.
Aghayeva was detained the morning after an “ICE Off Campus” protest demanding that Columbia “establish stronger protections for international students and declare itself a sanctuary campus,” according to the Columbia Daily Spectator.
The detainment also comes close to a year after Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian activist and legal permanent resident who had just graduated from Columbia, was detained by plainclothes officers in university housing. Khalil became one of the highest-profile detainees in the Trump administration’s ongoing campaign against non-US citizens and students who displayed pro-Palestinian views. Khalil was released from detention over the summer, but is still actively fighting deportation.
It’s not clear whether Aghayeva has any connection to the Columbia encampments or campus protests against ICE.
In a joint statement Thursday, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and council member Shaun Abreu, whose district includes Columbia, wrote: “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.”
Aghayeva, who has more than 100,000 followers on Instagram, often posts influencer-style videos about studying and her dedication to schoolwork. In a video she posted in August of last year, she compiled a supercut of her studying in the library with the caption, “Studying is hard but my parents sacrificed everything across the ocean for me to be here. They deserve a successful daughter.”
