ICE agents said to have posed as police, a tactic some fear could erode trust in real cops

NEW YORK (AP) — The 911 call came in at 6:32 a.m. on Thursday: Two “suspicious” men wearing dark clothing were lingering inside a Columbia University residential building.

But when New York Police Department officers were dispatched to the scene, they came across U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents in the midst of an unusually elaborate operation.

According to a statement later released by Columbia, the agents had gained access to the building by posing as police in search of a 5-year-old — going so far as to present a flyer of the “missing child” to a campus safety officer.

The ruse allowed them to make their way to the apartment of Ellie Aghayeva, an international student from Azerbaijan who immigration officials claim overstayed her visa. The NYPD officers arrived after the men had entered her apartment, a department spokesperson said. They confirmed the men were federal agents, then quickly left the building.

The arrest has prompted widespread censure and calls for investigation by Democrats, as well as a surprising intervention by President Donald Trump. The Republican informed New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani that Aghayeva was being released shortly after meeting with the Democratic mayor Thursday.