In a major escalation of US President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration crackdown, federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) arrested a Columbia University student early Thursday.
The agents, disguised as police officers looking for a missing person, entered a university-owned apartment building and detained Ellie Aghayeva, a senior majoring in neuroscience and political science.
She was detained at her Columbia-owned apartment on West 121st Street.
Columbia University acting president Claire Shipman said: “We are working to gather more details.”
According to a statement by her friends to a university faculty organization, the American Association of University Professors, Aghayeva is an international student who is in the United States legally on a visa.
Aghayeva, who also appears to be an Instagram influencer with 106,000 followers, shared a one-second video from the back of a DHS vehicle.
She wrote: “DHS arrested me illegally. Please help.”
DHS spokeswoman Lauren Bis said a statement was being prepared and would be released soon about the latest operation by federal agents.
Aghayeva filed an emergency motion in Manhattan federal court on Thursday requesting that she be released from custody.
This comes after months of calm at Columbia University following the detention of activist Mahmoud Khalil from a university building in March 2025.
