"This morning at approximately 6:30 a.m., federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security entered a Columbia Residential building and detained a student. Our understanding at this time is that the federal agents made misrepresentations to gain entry to the building to search for a 'missing person.'"
"We are living in a moment when it's not unreasonable to worry about masked federal agents barging into your dorm room, or shooting you in the street, or sending you to a foreign torture prison, or arresting you as retribution for an op-ed you once wrote in a student newspaper, or for no reason at all."
A Columbia University neuroscience student and lifestyle influencer named Ellie Aghayeva posted on Instagram claiming she was illegally arrested by Department of Homeland Security agents. The university's acting president confirmed that federal agents entered a residential building and detained the student, using misrepresentations about searching for a missing person to gain entry. The incident reflects broader anxieties about government surveillance, federal overreach, and civil liberties in contemporary America, where citizens face uncertainty about their safety and rights while navigating daily life that often feels disturbingly normal despite these threats.
Read at The New Yorker
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