
Columbia University student Elmina “Ellie” Aghayeva was detained by agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Thursday morning and released hours later after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani raised her case with President Donald Trump.
Aghayeva, a senior at Columbia University originally from Azerbaijan, was taken into custody from a university-owned residential building early Thursday. The detention sparked protests on campus and drew immediate political attention.