Aghayeva’s release comes after Mamdani shared his concerns about her arrest with Trump, after which the president informed him “that she will be released imminently,” Mamdani wrote in a Thursday afternoon X post. Mamdani’s advocacy came during an unannounced meeting about housing with Trump at the White House.

Columbia celebrated the news in a Thursday X post, writing that it was “thrilled” about Aghayeva’s release. The University added that it would have “additional details” to share Thursday evening.

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A DHS official wrote in a Thursday statement to Spectator that the DHS terminated Aghayeva’s student visa in 2016 during the administration of President Barack Obama, CC ’83, for “failing to attend classes.”