Camilla Jessen
Trump authorises release after Mamdani’s visit.
A Columbia University student detained by U.S. immigration agents has been released after New York City’s mayor intervened directly with President Donald Trump.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on Thursday that Trump had authorised the student’s release after he personally raised the matter with the president, according to AFP.
The student, identified as Elmina Aghayeva, had been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Arrest on campus
Claire Shipman, Columbia University’s interim president, said the student was taken into custody on Thursday morning.
She stated in a video posted on X that five ICE agents entered a campus residence without a warrant and under false pretences.
ICE officers came in “pretending to be police officers looking for a missing child,” Shipman said. “The agents took our student. It was a frightening situation (…) totally unacceptable to our students and staff,” she added.
According to the student newspaper Columbia Daily Spectator and information gathered by the BBC, Aghayeva is originally from Azerbaijan.
Mayor’s intervention
Mamdani said on X that he had contacted Trump directly about “Columbia student Elmina Aghayeva (…) being detained by ICE.”
“He just informed me that she will be released immediately,” the mayor wrote.
Aghayeva later confirmed her release in a post on Instagram, writing: “I just got out (…) I am safe.”
Earlier, Mamdani had shared a photo showing he travelled to Washington to meet the president.
He said the trip was primarily aimed at requesting additional federal funding to support affordable housing construction in Queens, one of New York City’s five boroughs. Queens is also home to the headquarters of Trump’s real estate business.
Sources: AFP, BBC, Columbia Daily Spectator, Digi24
