College students are seen on the campus of Columbia College in New York Metropolis on April 14, 2025.
Charly Triballeau | AFP | Getty Photographs
Federal authorities launched Columbia College scholar Elmina Aghayeva on Thursday afternoon, hours after Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers entered a college residential corridor in New York Metropolis and took the native of Azerbaijan into custody, the college stated.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani earlier stated President Donald Trump had known as to inform him that Aghayeva can be launched following a gathering on the White Home, the place the mayor had urged the president to set her free.
Aghayeva was arrested by ICE brokers at round 6:30 a.m. in Manhattan.
Columbia College’s performing president, Claire Shipman, accused ICE of getting into college property below false pretenses.
“Our understanding right now is that the federal brokers made misrepresentations to realize entry to the constructing to seek for a ‘lacking particular person,’ ” after which detained Aghayeva, Shipman stated in an e mail obtained by CNBC.
All legislation enforcement brokers require a judicial warrant or subpoena to enter housing and different private campus areas, Shipman stated within the e mail.
Brokers trying to enter non-public campus areas ought to wait till the college’s public security crew has been contacted, she added.
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, in an X publish, stated that ICE “used a phony lacking individuals bulletin” a few 5-year-old woman.
“They purposefully deceived campus housing/safety to realize entry to the scholar’s condominium,” Hoylman-Sigal wrote. “The extent of civil rights violations that occurred is staggering.”
The federal brokers recognized themselves as police on the lookout for a lacking baby when getting into the constructing, Shipman alleged in a separate e mail to the campus group Thursday evening. Digicam footage confirmed brokers within the hallway sharing footage of the purported baby, she added.
Shipman added that federal brokers didn’t produce a warrant regardless of repeated requests from a Columbia College public security officer. Additionally they refused to permit the officer to name his boss, Shipman added.
“This was a daunting and fast-moving scenario and completely unacceptable for our college students and workers,” Shipman stated within the e mail.
A Division of Homeland Safety official advised CNBC that ICE brokers arrested Aghayeva, whose scholar visa was terminated by the Obama administration in 2016, after “the constructing supervisor and her roommate let officers into the condominium.”
“She has no pending appeals or purposes with DHS,” stated the official, whose company oversees ICE.
The incident comes as Trump’s give attention to immigration has turn into a nationwide flashpoint.
Border czar Tom Homan earlier this month stated the administration would wind down its immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, an operation that despatched hundreds of brokers to the Minneapolis space.
Two U.S. residents had been killed by immigration officers this yr in Minnesota, sparking backlash in opposition to the White Home’s efforts.
Columbia has been within the Trump administration’s crosshairs for the reason that president returned to workplace final yr.
The Schooling Division in June stated the Ivy League faculty didn’t meet its accreditation requirements as a result of it was “in violation of federal antidiscrimination legal guidelines.”
A month later, Columbia stated it might pay $200 million to the federal authorities to revive its funding that the Trump administration reduce.
Columbia scholar Mahmoud Khalil was launched in June after three months in ICE detention.
