NYC Mayor Gets Columbia Student Released Same Day as Arrest

When Elmina Aghayeva was arrested by immigration agents on Thursday morning, her release seemed uncertain. But by that same evening, the Columbia University senior was free, thanks to an unlikely intervention from NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a White House meeting.

Aghayeva, a neuroscience and politics student from Azerbaijan, was detained after federal agents reportedly gained entry to her Manhattan apartment by claiming they were searching for a missing child. Security cameras captured the agents showing pictures of an alleged child in the hallway.

The 100,000 Instagram followers who watch Aghayeva document her immigrant student experience saw her urgent message: "DHS illegally arrested me. Please help." Her lawyers quickly filed a petition stating she was "wrongly held in detention without justification."

Meanwhile across town, Mayor Mamdani was meeting with President Trump about New York City housing. He took the opportunity to bring up Aghayeva's detention directly with the president.

The response was immediate. Trump called Mamdani later that day to inform him Aghayeva would be released. "I am safe and okay," she posted on Instagram just hours after her arrest.

The Bright Side

The speed of this resolution highlights something important: sometimes direct communication cuts through red tape faster than any legal process. What could have been a lengthy detention resolved in a single day because someone with access chose to advocate.

The case also demonstrates the evolving relationship between Trump and Mamdani, a democratic socialist Muslim mayor previously called a "communist lunatic" by the president. Their working relationship, however unlikely, produced real results for a student in crisis.

Aghayeva entered the United States legally in 2016. While immigration officials claimed her student visa had been terminated for not attending classes, her lawyers disputed this characterization.

During the same meeting, Mamdani also advocated for other students facing deportation related to pro-Palestinian campus protests. Those cases remain unresolved.

For Aghayeva, though, the day that started with an unexpected arrest ended with freedom, proving that persistence and advocacy can still move mountains in a single afternoon.