DHS disputes claims that Skokie woman was detained at O'Hare for hours, taken to Wisconsin
The Department of Homeland Security is disputing claims that a Skokie woman was held at O'Hare International Airport for hours.
This comes after elected officials on Sunday called for transparency and accountability about the incident.
Sunny Naqvi, 28, was on a work trip with five other employees and just returned from Turkey to O'Hare. They said when they got off their flight, all six of them were allegedly detained by federal agents and held at the airport for 30 hours before being brought to the Broadview detention center. People even showed up outside the Broadview detention facility on Friday night, pleading with law enforcement and federal agents to release Naqvi.
At a press conference on Sunday, elected officials said she was detained with her coworkers on Thursday at O'Hare.
"I spoke with her around 1:30 on Friday, and then her phone started pinging right behind me at the Broadview detention facility," said Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison.
Morrison is also a family friend and said Naqvi was born in Evanston and went to college at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
"It is our belief that during that time, they began moving the six individuals from Broadview to an immigration facility in Wisconsin," he said.
They said they tracked her location from Broadview across state lines to Dodge County, Wisconsin, where she and her coworkers were released on Saturday.
"They just let her out the door. She ended up having to hitchhike to find safe refuge and a location," Morrison said.
He said the six coworkers were heading to India six weeks ago for the work trip, but they were not all allowed to board the flight. He added that all of them were of Pakistani descent. Three of them were U.S. citizens, and the other three had green cards.
Naqvi traveled to Bulgaria and Austria instead, and it's when they returned that they were detained.
"All she was told was there was curious travel history, but they had no cause to detain her for those 30 hours," Morrison said.
"Her first shower was actually today, and she was able to eat some food," said Naqvi's sister, Sarah Afzul.
As for Naqvi, her sister said the last few days have taken a toll on her, and she was not ready to tell her story at Sunday's press conference.
Naqvi's attorney and elected officials said they have not filed a lawsuit yet, but are considering legal action.
On Monday, a spokesperson the U.S. Customs and Border Protection responded to the claims, saying the "the passenger's claims are blatantly false."
In a statement, they said, "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."
Morrison responded to CBP's claim, saying:
"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. The truth is that they detained Sunny 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."
The family has yet to speak about CBP's claims.
The video above is from a previous report.