U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents detained a Columbia University student on campus the morning of Feb. 26 after allegedly misrepresenting themselves to enter a residence hall in search of a missing person, the school said.
In a morning update sent to the university community, Columbia's acting President Claire Shipman announced DHS agents entered a Columbia residential building about 6:30 a.m. local time 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,'" Shipman wrote in the announcement. "We are working to gather more information, working to reach the family, and providing legal support."
The name of the student was not released by the school and it was not immediately known why agents detained the person.
Update: Student has been released from detention after intervention by NYC Mayor Mamdani.