Officials dispute Illinois woman’s claim she was held 30 hours at airport, sent to Wisconsin jail
By Derrick Rose
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DODGE COUNTY, Wisconsin (WISN) — If not for a family friend with a public profile, Sunny Naqvi, a U.S. citizen, fears her story of being at a Chicago airport for 30 hours before being sent to an immigration facility in Wisconsin may not have been told.
That friend, Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison, is not mincing words, sharing Naqvi’s account.
“They have been lying from the very start of this. I don’t think they want to own up to the fact that, once again, they have illegally detained American citizens without due process,” Morrison said Monday.
Morrison is calling for transparency and accountability for what he and Naqvi said happened late last week at O’Hare International Airport.
After returning from a trip, Naqvi, according to Morrison, said immigration officials detained her at the airport for 30 hours before transferring her to an immigration facility in Broadview, Illinois and eventually to the only facility in Wisconsin where immigration detainees are held: the Dodge County Jail.
“I had been in communication with congressional offices and immigration attorneys,” Morrison said. “People had been reaching out to [Customs and Border Protection] at O’Hare. They had been reaching out to the U.S. Attorney General’s Office. The story kept changing.
Morrison said Naqvi finally left the Dodge County facility at 5 a.m. Saturday.
“In the cold at 5 in the morning, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen, young girl. She walked to a nearby gas station and hitchhiked to a Holiday Inn, several miles away from the detention facility for refuge before her sister was able to get to her,” Morrison said.
But local and federal officials dispute the claims.
“At this time, these allegations do not appear to be accurate,” Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt said in an emailed statement. “The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office has no record of the individual referenced ever being booked, detained, or released from the Dodge County Jail.”
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson called the claims “blatantly false,” writing in their own emailed statement, “Ms. Naqvi departed CBP within 90 minutes of her arrival to the United States. Ms. Naqvi was not taken into custody or transferred to ICE for detention,” Harry Fones told Chicago ABC affiliate WLS.
Naqvi did not answer a phone call Monday night. Her sister, Sara Afzal, spoke during a news conference with Morrison at the Broadview facility over the weekend.
“The cops were lying to our faces,” Afzal said. “We were asking them, ‘Hey, her location is here. We were in contact with her,’ and they kept being like, ‘I don’t know what to tell you.'”
Morrison shared several images he said were screenshots of where Naqvi’s phone “pinged” throughout the ordeal. One appears to show her at the Broadview facility. Others appear to show her at the Dodge County Jail and the hotel in Beaver Dam.
“It sounds like they are trying to create a cover-up. They are seeking not to have any accountability whatsoever. And I think this is terrifying and concerning to us all,” Morrison said. “We need transparency of the facts of what actually occurred. We need accountability for everyone who took part in this moment. But we need investigations by our Congress, and we need action and legislation to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.”
Department of Homeland Security Statement
The passenger’s claims are blatantly false. Summer Sundas ‘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. Ms. Naqvi was not taken into custody or transferred to ICE for detention.
CBP did NOT transfer any individuals to Broadview or perform any phone detentions from her flight on Thursday, March 5th.
Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt Statement
The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office is aware of allegations made this past weekend claiming that a woman identified as Summer “Sunny” Sunday Naqvi was transported to the Dodge County Jail by immigration officials and booked into custody during the overnight hours of March 6 into March 7, 2026. It has also been alleged that the Sheriff’s Office subsequently released her from the facility after her arrival.
At this time, these allegations do not appear to be accurate. The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office has no record of the individual referenced ever being booked, detained, or released from the Dodge County Jail. 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.
The Sheriff’s Office takes any allegation involving jail operations seriously. We have been and will continue to review the circumstances surrounding this claim to ensure a complete understanding of what occurred. 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.
Because no booking of Ms. Naqvi ever took place, the Sheriff’s Office does not have contact information for her; however, we are asking that she contact us so we may speak with her regarding the allegation and obtain evidence of the incident from her. We are also asking that the unknown individual who reportedly picked her up in the Juneau area and drove her to the Holiday Inn contact the Sheriff’s Office to provide a statement.
Other investigative measures are under way and this incident remains under investigation by the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office.
The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office does not speak on behalf of other law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security or Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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