{"id":492309,"date":"2026-02-26T21:05:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T21:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/492309\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T21:05:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T21:05:09","slug":"columbia-student-arrested-by-dhs-agents-who-posed-as-police-officers-columbia-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/492309\/","title":{"rendered":"Columbia student arrested by DHS agents who posed as police officers | Columbia University"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Columbia University<\/a> student was arrested on Thursday by federal immigration officers who reportedly misrepresented themselves by posing as New York police officers looking for a missing child in order to to gain entry to a residential building to make the apprehension.<\/p>\n

The acting president of the elite institution in New York City<\/a>, Claire Shipman, wrote in a statement sent to the wider Columbia community on Thursday that the university was working to to reach the family and providing legal support.<\/p>\n

Shipman did not identify the student but multiple sources identified her as Ellie Aghayeva, who posted a photo<\/a> that appeared to show her own legs, possibly in a vehicle, in an Instagram story with the message: \u201cDhs illegally arrested me. Please help.\u201d<\/p>\n

A short time after Columbia\u2019s statement, the Manhattan borough president, Brad Hoylman-Sigal, wrote in a social media post <\/a>that \u201cICE agents impersonated NYPD with fake badges and a phony missing persons bulletin for a 5 year old girl\u201d, referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE<\/a>) agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey purposefully deceived campus housing\/security to gain entry to the student\u2019s apartment,\u201d he added. \u201cThe level of civil rights violations that took place is staggering.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the parent agency<\/a> of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE<\/a>), denied agents impersonated the NYPD. \u201cThe Homeland Security Investigators verbally identified themselves and visibly wore badges around their necks,\u201d they said in a statement. \u201cThey did NOT and would not identify themselves as NYPD.\u201d<\/p>\n

DHS also confirmed the student\u2019s identity but appeared to suggest she was no longer a student.<\/p>\n

\u201cICE arrested Elmina Aghayeva, an illegal alien from Azerbaijan, whose student visa was terminated in 2016 under the Obama administration for failing to attend classes,\u201d the spokesperson wrote in a statement. \u201cThe building manager and her roommate let officers into the apartment. She has no pending appeals or applications with DHS.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the New York<\/a> police department said in a statement that the department was not involved in the arrest.<\/p>\n

Following Aghayeva\u2019s detention friends at the university frantically reached out to local officials for help. They said she is in her final semester at Columbia and majoring in neuroscience and political science.<\/p>\n

According to a request for help sent to local officials by Aghayeva\u2019s friends, which was also shared with the Guardian, Aghayeva sent an urgent message on Thursday to a group chat saying \u201cICE is in my house. They are trying to take me away\u201d. The students then contacted a building security officer whom they say facilitated federal agents\u2019 access to Aghayeva\u2019s apartment.<\/p>\n

Eli Northrup, an attorney who works as a public defender and is running for office in the state assembly, representing Columbia\u2019s district, spoke with some of the students\u2019 friends on Thursday morning and criticised what he couched as Columbia\u2019s lapse in security.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a massive institutional failure by Columbia, whose number one priority must be protecting its students,\u201d Northrup wrote in a message to the Guardian. \u201cNo public safety officer should be admitting law enforcement of any kind into their buildings without thorough vetting.<\/p>\n

His criticism of Columbia was echoed by Shayoni Mitra, a Barnard professor who lives in the neighborhood and said that local residents have been training for months to protect their neighbors from ICE.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are trying to keep each other and our neighbors safe. But why are Columbia Public Safety officers not trained to stop ICE?\u201d she told the Guardian. \u201cIt is simply not good enough to for President Shipman to say the agents used misrepresentation to gain entry to the building. Why did no one ask to see a signed judicial warrant?\u201d<\/p>\n

The arrest came nearly a year after upheaval on campus after immigration officials detained Columbia students Mahmoud Khalil<\/a> and Mohsen Mahdawi<\/a>, both Palestinians with valid immigration status, in a crackdown on dissent against Israel\u2019s war in Gaza<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration<\/a> detained them and other foreign scholars whom it accused of no crimes but who had been outspoken in the cause of Palestinian rights. In a blistering opinion<\/a> issued in September, a Boston federal judge found that their detention was unconstitutional and designed to chill speech.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s incident sent fresh shock waves through the university\u2019s campus. Dozens of students and faculty gathered for an emergency protest outside the university\u2019s gates on Thursday afternoon, calling for Aghayeva\u2019s release and condemning Columbia for allowing federal agents into their facilities.<\/p>\n

Kathy Hochul, the New York governor, issued a statement accusing ICE of lying in order to seize Aghayeva. \u201cLet\u2019s be clear about what happened: ICE agents didn\u2019t have the proper warrant, so they lied to gain access to a student\u2019s private residence,\u201d she wrote<\/a> on X. \u201cI\u2019ve proposed a bill that would ban ICE from entering sensitive locations like schools and dorms. Let\u2019s get it passed now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brad Lander, a former New York City comptroller who was arrested by ICE agents<\/a> while escorting immigrants to court last year, also condemned the detention.<\/p>\n

\u201cYet again, ICE is using blatantly illegal trickery to circumvent judicial warrant requirements and abduct a student. These are the tactics of brownshirts,\u201d Lander wrote in a social media post<\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019ve long been calling to abolish ICE. And why Congress should not grant them one more penny. This lawlessness has to end.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mamdani made an unannounced trip to Washington on Thursday to meet with Donald Trump.<\/p>\n