A student at Columbia University was snatched Thursday morning by federal agents who allegedly lied about why they were on the campus. She was released from custody Thursday afternoon.

At around 6:30 a.m., federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security entered a residential building on the New York City campus, Columbia University President Claire Shipman said.

“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 said in a statement.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) responded to the news by saying ICE agents had “lied” to gain access to the student, later identified 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 student into custody, but did not address the allegation that its employees had lied to gain access 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 statement said.

On her popular Instagram page, Aghayeva posted a photo of herself in the back of a vehicle early Thursday morning.

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

By noon, protesters had started to gather outside Columbia’s gates, demanding the student’s release.

Aghayeva posted later that afternoon that she had been released.

“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 needed “a little time to process everything.”

In her statement Thursday morning, Shipman said that an “administrative warrant is not sufficient” for federal immigration agents to enter a private area.

“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 statement said. “An administrative warrant is not sufficient.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he had an afternoon phone call with President Donald Trump, and that Trump had promised to release the student “imminently.”

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

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