The detention of Elmina Aghayeva, an Azerbaijani student living in the USA, by federal immigration authorities has caused widespread resonance.
Modern.az reports that the incident occurred on the Columbia University campus. Employees of the federal immigration service detained the Azerbaijani student in a university-owned residential building.
According to a statement from university officials, federal agents introduced themselves under a different name when entering the building. However, the official agency denied this claim and stated that the detention was carried out on legal grounds.
According to information, the issue was directly discussed with US President Donald Trump by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. It is reported that a decision was made to release Aghayeva after a meeting held at the White House and a subsequent phone conversation.
After her release, Elmina Aghayeva posted on her social media account, stating that she was safe and shocked by what had happened.
Aghayeva is a final-year student from Azerbaijan studying neurobiology and political science at Columbia University. According to information disseminated by her friends, she had a long-term student visa. However, the US Department of Homeland Security announced that the visa had been previously revoked and there was currently no open application or appeal process.
The incident led to protests on campus, with students raising the issue of protecting the rights of international students. The university administration announced that additional instructions had been given to staff regarding not allowing representatives of federal agencies into non-public areas without a court order.
