Feds deny two-day detainment of Skokie woman, while county official says feds ‘hid her whereabouts’

Days after the family of a Skokie woman alleged that she was detained by federal authorities and moved to two different facilities before her release, U.S. Customs and Border Protection called her story “blatantly FALSE.”

CBP’s statement, published to the organization’s social media on Tuesday, March 10, denied that federal officers held Sundas “Sunny” Naqvi at O’Hare International Airport for longer than 90 minutes on March 5, contradicting testimony from Naqvi’s family and attorney who say she was detained for the better part of two days and released alone in the predawn hours 140 miles from home.

CBP’s claim came after the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office said in a Monday news release that it “has no record” of Naqvi ever being inside its jail this past weekend. 

Naqvi’s sister Sarah Afzal said tracking data from Naqvi’s phone last week showed the phone was at O’Hare International Airport for more than 24 hours, inside a detention facility in Broadview on Friday and then in Wisconsin near the Dodge County Jail into Saturday. 

The statements from law enforcement officials follow allegations from Naqvi’s sister and supporters that federal authorities have supplied conflicting statements about her detainment and never formally documented her detention. 

“CBP can’t get their story straight. Every time we or members of the press have spoken with them, they’ve come up with something different,” said Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison, a family friend of Naqvi, in an email on March 10. “The truth is that they detained her without cause and repeatedly lied, obfuscated and hid her whereabouts.

“They released her in a different state in the dead of night. And they still haven’t returned her passport.”

‘Additional inspection’

Responding to The Record, Morrison said that Naqvi’s family is “requesting privacy at this time because of safety concerns,” but on March 10, he provided an updated timeline that adds details about Naqvi’s encounter with CBP. 

Morrison said that on Turkish Airlines flight No. 185 from Istanbul Naqvi landed at O’Hare around 10 a.m. on March 5. Soon after, Naqvi reportedly was apprehended by CBP and separated from her five coworkers with whom she was traveling.

Afzal has provided information on what happened next: Naqvi was held at O’Hare for more than 24 hours and tracking data shows her phone pinged at 4:17 p.m. on Friday from inside the federal detention center in Broadview. 

A spokesperson for the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement told The Record to: “Please contact CBP Public Affairs.” CBP then publicly stated on Tuesday that “Ms. Naqvi was not taken into custody or transferred to ICE for detention.”

The agency added, “Sunny Naqvi, arrived at O’Hare at 10:21 a.m. on March 5, 2026. CBP officers referred her to Secondary, for additional inspection based on law enforcement checks and conducted a baggage exam. Ms. Naqvi departed CBP within 90 minutes of her arrival to the United States.”

Series of statements

The timeline Morrison shared with The Record shows that at different times on Friday a CBP official at O’Hare told U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi’s office, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s office and Morrison that Naqvi was released from O’Hare at 11:48 p.m. on Thursday. 

Morrison said a CBP official at O’Hare later told him on Friday that Naqvi was released within two minutes of being detained. 

In a statement attached to Morrison’s timeline, Naqvi’s lawyer Robert Held said he spoke early Saturday morning with a CBP official at O’Hare who said Naqvi was detained for two minutes on Thursday and then she “walked out the doors like every other citizen.” 

Morrison also said that on Monday CBP sent two statements – one at 2:25 p.m. and one at 3:21 p.m. — regarding Naqvi’s holding. The statements use different time references but claim that CBP released Naqvi no later than 11:40 a.m. Thursday.

‘No female inmates’

Naqvi’s sister, Afzal, who told Naqvi’s story in a press conference Sunday, said tracking data showed Naqvi’s cellphone was inside the ICE detention center in Broadview for three to four hours on Friday before the phone’s signal disappeared. 

Hours later on Friday, data reportedly showed the phone near 216 W. Center Road in Juneau, Wisconsin. It again pinged in that location, which is in or near a Dodge County detention facility at 2:20 a.m. on Saturday, March 7. 

Afzal said that Naqvi was released from that facility around 5 a.m. Saturday, walked to a gas station, hitched a ride with a stranger to a hotel nine miles away and was picked up by her family.

Morrison said Naqvi may have been held in a Dodge County ICE detention facility, not the Dodge County Jail. But the commissioner reiterated that Naqvi said she was never asked for her ID or name and was released without signing any paperwork.

Dodge County Sheriff Dale J. Schmidt said in a statement that his department’s jail did not have a record of Naqvi between the overnight hours of March 6-7.

“Jail logs confirm that no female inmates or detainees from the federal government were admitted or released during the timeframe in which these events were alleged to have occurred,” Schmidt said in a statement regarding the jail.

The sheriff said he would like to speak with Naqvi and the individual who reportedly picked her up in the Juneau area and drove her to the hotel.

“We encourage anyone who believes they have evidence related to this matter to provide that information — along with any available electronic metadata — to the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office so it can be properly evaluated,” the sheriff wrote.

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