Feds dispute Skokie woman's claim she was held by ICE for 30 hours

The Department of Homeland Security is disputing the story of Sundas “Sunny” Naqvi, a U.S. citizen from Skokie who claimed she and her colleagues were detained for more than 30 hours by federal immigration authorities over the weekend.

The federal agency claimed she was released nearly an hour after she was flagged for secondary screening at O'Hare Airport Thursday. The agency posted photos on social media Wednesday evening purporting to prove that. But Kevin Morrison, a Cook County commissioner and Naqvi's friend since high school, told the Chicago Sun-Times the photos were doctored.

"Instead of releasing a clearly doctored photo, I call on DHS to release all of the relevant video at O’Hare Airport at the days and times in question," Morrison said in a statement Wednesday evening.

On Sunday, Morrison shared Naqvi's version of events at a news conference outside the ICE processing facility in suburban Broadview. He said Naqvi and five of her colleagues were detained at O’Hare by federal immigration agents for their “recent travel history” after returning from Istanbul.

Naqvi, 28, and the others were taken to the Broadview facility where they were then transferred to a facility in Dodge County, Wisconsin, sometime Friday evening, Morrison said. She was released around 5 a.m. Saturday after nearly 30 hours.

The Cook County Sheriff’s office said it searched the facility and found nothing. The Dodge County, Wisconsin, sheriff's office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Naqvi and her detained colleagues declined interviews with the Sun-Times at the news conference Sunday and declined to comment by phone Wednesday. Naqvi’s lawyer, Rob Held, also did not return calls.

The Department of Homeland Security first dismissed Naqvi's claims in a statement Monday, calling the story “blatantly false." The agency said she arrived at O’Hare Thursday at 10:21 a.m., was referred to secondary screening for three minutes, retrieved her bags and departed the airport at 11:43 a.m. The agency said the entire exchange was captured on video.

The agency said it contacted her on Friday to ask her to inform people she was OK and confirmed that the Cook County Sheriff’s office had contacted the Broadview ICE processing facility about her.

The federal agency also pointed to Naqvi's criminal record. Naqvi pleaded guilty in 2022 to making a false police report alleging sexual assault and served two years probation, according to count records. The case was then dismissed as part of a deferred prosecution agreement.

On Tuesday, the agency said, “Ms. Naqvi was not taken into custody or transferred to ICE for detention."

Late Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security posted screenshots on social media purporting to show Naqvi exiting secondary screening.

Morrison said they contained a "clearly doctored photo" and called on the agency to release all of its video.

Morrison isn't alone in questioning the federal agency’s credibility.

A federal judge found that former U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino lied in a court deposition in November about his own use of tear gas in a confrontation with protesters in Little Village. And 17 of 32 defendants in federal cases related to Operation Midway Blitz have been dismissed, three of which came after grand juries refused to indict.

Shortly after agents shot Silverio Villegas González to death last September in Franklin Park, DHS claimed an agent was “seriously injured” after allegedly being dragged by González's vehicle. But police body-camera video later showed the agent said he was “just shooken up a little.”

Footage released in February also contradicted the agency’s account of when one of its agents shot Marimar Martinez in Brighton Park last fall. DHS later said it “stands by our press releases and statements. The facts of what happened did not change.”