DHS agents arrest Columbia student in early morning operation

In a major escalation of the U.S. 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, disguising themselves as Police Department officers looking for a missing person, entered a residential building owned by the university 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’s Acting President Claire Shipman said, “We are working to gather more details.”

According to a statement by her friends to a university faculty organisation, the American Association of University Professors, Aghayeva is an international student who is residing in the U.S. legally with a visa.

Aghayeva, who also appears to be an Instagram influencer with 106k followers, shared a one-second video from the back of a DHS vehicle.

She captioned: “DHS illegally arrested me. Please help.”

DHS spokeswoman Lauren Bis said a statement was being prepared and will be released soon about the most recent operation of federal agents.

Aghayeva filed an emergency petition in Manhattan federal court on Thursday requesting her release from detention.

This comes after months of quiet at Columbia University following activist Mahmoud Khalil’s detention from a university dormitory building in March 2025.