An Azerbaijani student at New York City’s Columbia University was arrested by agents from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) under suspicious circumstances, but subsequently released after Mayor Zohran Mamdani made a personal appeal to US President Donald Trump.
Elmina Aghayeva, who is set to graduate this year and also runs an Instagram account with more than 100,000 followers, was accused by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of having her student visa ‘terminated’ in 2016 for ‘failing to attend class’.
ICE agents reportedly wore fake badges to impersonate officers from the New York City Police Department as a means of entering the Columbia dorm where Aghayeva was located and subsequently detain her. On Thursday morning, Aghayeva posted a story on Instagram saying, ‘DHS illegally arrested me. Please help’.
The impersonation of officers was corroborated by Columbia’s acting President Claire Shipman, who denounced the move. Shipman added that law enforcement officers must have the appropriate warrant to enter dorms, which the ICE agents did not have. The nature of Aghayeva’s arrest resulted in widespread criticism from politicians across the state, including Governor Kathy Hochul and Senator Chuck Schumer.
The case took an unexpected turn late on Thursday when Mamdani announced that he had personally appealed to Trump on the phone and that Aghayeva would be ‘released imminently’.
The abrupt turnaround has been credited to Trump’s apparently unrequited budding bromance with Mamdani, despite their vast ideological differences.
Later, Aghayeva posted on Instagram that she ‘just got out a little while ago’ and was ‘safe and ok’. She also said she was ‘grateful for everyone of you’.
There were no further details about the status of her case or if she faces deportation.
Yousef Bardouka
