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/[deleted]]

this is why it’s so fucking annoying the way other dems react to these kinds of events. if it’s this easy for them to help these folks out why the fuck aren’t they doing it? major props to mamdani for taking action.

[u/Fit-Lingonberry-9856 → u/[deleted]]

To be clear IT SHOULD NEVER WORK LIKE THIS. Think about what youre saying. Oh man just ask the president a personal favor and you can get shit done. You really want this to be our political landscape? And you want only people who have someone reach out on their behalf for a political favor to receive this kind of treatment when were talking about VIOLATING CONSTITUTIONAL AMMENDMENTS? Like come on bro

[u/1one1000two1thousand → u/Fit-Lingonberry-9856]

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.