Columbia Student Snatched By Federal Agents Who ‘Lied’ To Gain Entry: Governor | EUROtoday

A scholar at Columbia University was snatched Thursday morning by federal brokers who allegedly lied about why they have been on the campus. She was launched from custody Thursday afternoon.

At round 6:30 a.m., federal brokers from the Department of Homeland Security entered a residential constructing on the New York City campus, Columbia University President Claire Shipman mentioned.

“Our understanding at this time is that the federal agents made misrepresentations to gain entry to the building to search for a ‘missing person,’” Shipman mentioned in an announcement.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) responded to the information by saying ICE brokers had “lied” to realize entry to the coed, later recognized as Elmina Aghayeva.

“Let’s be clear about what happened: ICE agents didn’t have the proper warrant, so they lied to gain access to a student’s private residence,” Hochul posted on X.

DHS confirmed to HuffPost that ICE had taken the coed into custody, however didn’t handle the allegation that its staff had lied to realize entry to her.

“ICE arrested Elmina Aghayeva, an illegal alien from Azerbaijan, whose student visa was terminated in 2016 under the Obama administration for failing to attend classes. The building manager and her roommate let officers into the apartment. She has no pending appeals or applications with DHS,” the assertion mentioned.

On her common Instagram web page, Aghayeva posted a photograph of herself behind a car early Thursday morning.

“Dhs illegally arrested me,” she posted. “Please help.”

By midday, protesters had began to assemble outdoors Columbia’s gates, demanding the coed’s launch.

Aghayeva posted later that afternoon that she had been launched.

“I just got out a little while ago,” Aghayeva posted. “I am safe and okay. In an uber otw back home. I am so sorry but I am in complete shock over what happened and my phone is blowing up with calls from reporters.”

She added that she wanted “a little time to process everything.”

In her assertion Thursday morning, Shipman mentioned that an “administrative warrant is not sufficient” for federal immigration brokers to enter a personal space.

“It is important to reiterate that all law enforcement agents must have a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena to access non-public areas of the University, including housing, classrooms, and areas requiring CUID swipe access,” the assertion mentioned. “An administrative warrant is not sufficient.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani mentioned he had a day telephone name with President Donald Trump, and that Trump had promised to launch the coed “imminently.”

“In our meeting earlier, I shared my concerns about Columbia student Elaina Aghayeva, who was detained by ICE this morning,” Mamdani mentioned. “He has just informed me that she will be released imminently.”