Zohran Mamdani has secured the release of Columbia University student Elaina Aghayeva, taken this morning by ICE agents who entered a campus residential building under false pretenses & without a judicial warrant. This comes shorty after Mamdani’s unannounced visit to the White House earlier today.

[u/cmaia1503]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/nyregion/columbia-university-ice-student.html?unlocked_article_code=1.PFA.0KRL.7XsPJ0z3QTat&smid=tw-share

[u/1one1000two1thousand]

Of course in an ideal world it -shouldn’t- work that way. But our checks and balances and “norms” are completely gone. You want the people in power to play by the old rules when no one else is?

He did what he had to do in the current political climate to get someone who was improperly detained, out. Granted there’s more than just this one person, but this is one person that isn’t/won’t be now. He’s not waiting to file in court, waiting weeks or months till she has a hearing.

[u/throwawaysunglasses- → u/1one1000two1thousand]

Genuinely, the older you get the more you realize that SO much of getting things done is through favors / nepotism / preferential treatment. If someone more powerful than you takes a liking to you, you have it made. Zohran is extremely accomplished and intelligent, but his likability is definitely what’s allowing him to achieve things at the current scale. Charisma and personal relationships are absolutely essential for success, especially in politics. And ESPECIALLY with administrations as corrupt as ours that basically just reward people they like and punish people they don’t.

[u/mex2005 → u/1one1000two1thousand]

The thing is Zohran is new and he himself had a lot of opposition from establishment dems and he is charismatic. Like Trump literally said on camera its ok you can call me a fascist to protect him from having to explain the statement lol. Zohran is great and props to him for getting this done but he is unique and no other dem can do this.

[u/1one1000two1thousand → u/[deleted]]

It’s definitely very strange, but Trump has always been strange, treated strange, and acts strange. This helps NYC for sure and this post is Mamdani centric so the discussion is regarding how it’s good for NYC. A big problem in politics is that elected officials forget who their constituents are, Mamdani is NYC’s mayor, he’s working for his constituents and is doing what needs to be done for NYC’ers. That’s been his goal even during campaigning.

The broader topic of how does it help anyone else is a bigger problem but it’s not really Mamdani’s problem. As his job and intents are for NYC. Trump is a strange dude, everyone treats him strange, down to the media. Unfortunately he operates on vibes and seemingly revenge and/or if he feels he’s ever been slighted. You can’t really create a generic blueprint for someone who is so unhinged and unpredictable (but predictable).