(Image Credit: Ellie Aghayeva via Instagram)
According to the officials at Columbia University, federal immigration agents deceived the campus personnel to enter a student dormitory at the beginning of the morning on Thursday and arrest a student undergraduate Ellie Aghayeva.
Claire Shipman, who assumed the office after President Obama was away, said that officers of the Department of Homeland Security entered the building on West 122nd Street shortly after 6:30 AM, claiming to be searching the house of a missing person. The university is of the opinion that this explanation was not true and that agents had lied to get into a non public section of the campus housing. Columbia has already started calling out to the family of the student and offering legal support as it continues to seek more information on the incident.
Shipman reiterated that police agencies should include a judicial warrant or subpoena to gain access to restricted campus areas like dormitory, classrooms, or any other spaces that need a Columbia ID card to get in. She emphasized that the administrative warrants granted by federal agencies are not adequate to enter such locations and urged employees to deny the officers the right to access such locations without the necessary legal authorization. The case has revived the debate on the enforcement of immigration on campus and precedes other previous cases involving international students. Aghayeva is a neuroscience and political science student that moved to the United States in 2016 on a visa since she was born in Azerbaijan. She subsequently went to social media stating that she was illegally arrested and petitioned habeas corpus in federal court demanding her release.
Political leaders promptly responded negatively. Councilman Shaun Abreu and Council Speaker Julie Menin of the New York City Council lamented the move stating that there is no role of law enforcement of immigration in schools and universities and it feeds fear and distrust. New York Governor Kathy Hochul remarked that in case agents lied to get access to the premises, it is an indication of a significant lack of accountability in ICE. She advocated refocusing and retraining of the agency stating that such strategies destroy the trust of the people and the safety of students.
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