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

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.

“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.

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.”

She said the university is still working to “gather more information, working to reach the family, and providing legal support.”

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

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani had an afternoon phone call with President Donald Trump, and said that Trump will 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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