ICE used a false missing-child pretext to detain Columbia senior Ellie Aghayeva without a warrant

On the morning of February 26, 2026, five federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security entered an off-campus Columbia University residential building without a judicial warrant. According to a video statement by Columbia's acting president, Claire Shipman, the agents gained entry by telling building staff they were police searching for a missing child, and the university's security cameras captured them showing pictures of the purported missing child in the hallway. Once inside, they arrested Elmina "Ellie" Aghayeva, a 29-year-old senior originally from Azerbaijan. A public-safety officer asked repeatedly for a warrant, which was not produced.

Aghayeva was released the same afternoon — roughly twelve hours after she was taken — after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who was in Washington for a meeting with President Trump, raised her case directly with the president. The Department of Homeland Security said Aghayeva's student visa had been revoked in 2016 for failing to attend classes, that she was placed in removal proceedings, and disputed claims by local officials that its agents had impersonated NYPD officers, stating that investigators identified themselves and wore visible badges. The NYPD said it had no involvement in the operation.

The episode drew condemnation from New York officials across government and prompted campus protests and a tightening of Columbia's policies on law-enforcement access to university housing. It fits a documented pattern of federal immigration enforcement directed at Columbia students and affiliates, and is distinct in date, individual, and facts from the separately archived due-process cases involving other Columbia-connected students.