Federal agents arrested a Columbia University student early in the morning after reportedly entering a campus residence by saying they were searching for a missing child. Columbia’s acting president Claire Shipman said the agents misrepresented themselves; students and faculty staged protests. Hours later, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with President Trump at the White House and, according to the mayor’s posts, raised the student’s case — the administration then permitted the student, Ellie Aghayeva, to leave custody. The episode provoked clashes over campus safety, immigration enforcement near universities, and coordination between federal agencies and campus leaders. Higher‑ed leaders warned the incident could chill student trust and heighten anxiety in immigrant communities on college campuses.