Students are seen on the campus of Columbia University in New York City on April 14, 2025.
Charly Triballeau | AFP | Getty Images
Columbia University on Thursday confirmed that federal immigration agents released student Elaina Aghayeva after she was detained earlier in the day.
The school said in a tweet posted shortly after 4:15 p.m. ET that Aghayeva had been released. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said earlier Thursday that President Donald Trump would release her following a meeting between the two politicians.
“He has just informed me that she will be released imminently,” Mamdani said in a post on X. Mamdani said in the post that he “just got off the phone” with Trump.
A Department of Homeland Security official confirmed in an earlier statement to CNBC that Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Aghayeva, an Azerbaijan native whose student visa was terminated by the Obama administration in 2016.
“The building manager and her roommate let officers into the apartment,” the official said. “She has no pending appeals or applications with DHS.”
The student was taken by DHS officials from a university-owned residential building around 6:30 a.m., according to an email from Claire Shipman, the school’s acting president, obtained by CNBC. Aghayeva was not named directly in Shipman’s email.
“Our understanding at this time is that the federal agents made misrepresentations to gain entry to the building to search for a ‘missing person,'” Shipman said.
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal said in a social media post that ICE “used a phony missing persons bulletin” about a 5-year-old girl. He said federal agents “purposefully deceived” campus housing and security personnel to enter the student’s apartment.
Thursday’s detainment comes as Trump’s focus on immigration has become a national flashpoint.
Border czar Tom Homan said earlier this month that the administration would wind down its immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, an operation that sent thousands of agents to the Minneapolis area. Two U.S. citizens were killed by immigration officials this year in Minnesota, bringing the backlash against the White House’s efforts to a fever pitch.
All law enforcement agents required a judicial warrant or subpoena to enter housing and other non-public campus areas, Shipman said in her email. Agents looking to enter private campus spaces should wait until the school’s public safety team has been contacted, she added.
Columbia has been in the White House’s crosshairs since Trump returned to office last year.
The Education Department said in June that the Ivy League school did not meet its accreditation standards because it was “is in violation of federal antidiscrimination laws.” A month later, Columbia said it would pay $200 million to the federal government to restore its funding that the Trump administration cut.
Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil was released after months in ICE detention last year.
The White House referred CNBC to DHS when contacted for comment before Mamdani’s announcement of the release.