NEW YORK CITY, New York: Federal immigration authorities released a Columbia University student a few hours after arresting her early on February 26, following an intervention by President Donald Trump.
In a social media post the same afternoon, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Trump agreed to release the student immediately after he spoke to the president, expressing concern about the arrest, during an unrelated meeting with him.
"I am safe and okay," Aghayeva wrote on Instagram, minutes after Mamdani's post, adding she was in "complete shock" from the experience.
These events are the latest example of the unusual relationship between the Republican president and a democratic socialist mayor – someone the president had once threatened to deport.
While discussing a large housing project with Trump, Mamdani also asked him to drop legal cases against several current and former students who are facing deportation because they took part in protests against Israel.
Aghayeva, a senior student from Azerbaijan studying neuroscience and politics, has not been publicly connected to the pro-Palestinian protests that caused unrest on Columbia University's campus. She describes herself as a content creator and has built a large social media following by posting daily-life videos and advice on being an immigrant in college.
According to a court petition filed by her lawyers and a statement from Columbia, federal agents entered her apartment by saying they were looking for a missing person. She quickly posted a message to her more than 100,000 Instagram followers saying, "DHS illegally arrested me. Please help." The post included a photo that seemed to show her legs in the backseat of a vehicle.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said her student visa had been canceled in 2016 because she did not attend classes. Columbia did not respond to questions about her visa status or how long she had been enrolled.
Her lawyers said she entered the U.S. on a visa around 2016, but did not give more details about her immigration status.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin denied claims from some state officials that agents pretended to be New York City police officers to enter her apartment. She did not answer questions about whether agents said they were searching for a missing person.
In recent months, immigration authorities have faced criticism after agents were seen pretending to be utility workers and other service workers in cities like Minneapolis. In most cases, using disguises like this is legal. However, immigration lawyers say such tactics are becoming more common, raising concerns about the Trump administration's major changes to immigration enforcement across the country.
Recently, Trump has increased his criticism of several universities, including Harvard and UCLA. This arrest appears to be the first federal enforcement action at Columbia since the university agreed to pay more than US$220 million to the administration over the summer.
In an email to the Columbia community, acting president Claire Shipman said staff had been reminded not to let federal law enforcement enter university buildings without a subpoena or warrant.
