DHS Agents Detain a Columbia Researcher After Allegedly Presenting Themselves as NYPD

DHS agents detained Elmina Aghayeva, a neuroscience researcher from Azerbaijan, at Columbia University residential housing at about 6:30 a.m. on February 26, 2026. Interim Columbia President Claire Shipman emailed the university community saying the agents "made misrepresentations to gain entry to the building to search for a 'missing person.'" Students, citing a building security guard, wrote to City Council Member Shaun Abreu that the agents "were presented as NYPD alongside Columbia Public Safety," and Abreu publicly alleged they had posed as city police. Aghayeva was released the same day after Mayor Zohran Mamdani raised the case with Trump at the White House and Trump telephoned him afterward.

The university's account that agents used a false pretext to enter a residence hall goes to the terms on which federal immigration officers gain access to private buildings. The narrower claim that they specifically identified themselves as NYPD comes from students and a council member, not from the university, and DHS has not confirmed it. No litigation or DHS explanation is recorded in the sources reviewed.