Leftist mainstream media went crazy with outrage after reports that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unjustly detained a young United States citizen for 43 hours. The truth is that the young woman actually went on vacation for that time, and now a sheriff wants to hold her accountable for the viral hoax.
The post from ABC 7 Chicago below is an illustrative sample of the sort of misinformation that was circulating throughout American media over the alleged detention of the enterprising young liar. Such lies are extremely disturbing at a time when assaults and death threats against federal immigration officers are at dangerous highs.
Sunny Naqvi, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen, is now back at home after spending about 43 hours in Department of Homeland Security custody. https://t.co/9Fm6BgzCYr pic.twitter.com/lTqwe4BPOc
— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) March 8, 2026
Sundas "Sunny" Naqvi asserted last month that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers unlawfully detained her for almost two days. Among those who rallied to her cause was Cook County (Ill.) Commissioner Kevin Morrison. Naqvi asserted that she took a work trip to Turkey, and then when she landed back in the U.S. at Chicago O'Hare International Airport on March 5, ICE officers first detained her at the airport for more than a day, and then transferred her to the Broadview ICE facility, and then finally to Dodge County Jail in Wisconsin.
HERE ARE THE RECEIPTS:
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) March 11, 2026
As we said Sunny Naqvi entered the CBP area at 10:21 am.
Surveillance footage from O’Hare CLEARLY shows her entering secondary inspection at 10:46 a.m., and leaving secondary to the public area at 11:42 a.m.
Her claims of spending 43 hours in DHS custody… https://t.co/GkqWBLS6sn pic.twitter.com/SWOJmMulcy
Morrison, who identified Naqvi as his "best friend's sister," according to the New York Post, posted "questionable screenshots" to support the claim she was at the Wisconsin jail and asserted that Naqvi had to hitchhike nine miles to a hotel after her release. "This is a 28-year-old girl just left on the street by ICE in another state, without her property," Morrison all but sobbed. It was the perfect anti-ICE propaganda story. And like all ideal smears of ICE, it never happened.
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Now, Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt has filed a federal defamation lawsuit against both Naqvi and Morrison. Schmidt said during a press conference that throughout the whole period of time in question, Naqvi was checked into a Rosemont, Ill., Hampton Inn and Suites (not pictured above). He has a hotel bill and texts to prove it.
She used someone else's money to enjoy food, spa services, and a gym during her sojourn at the hotel. A witness in the case allowed Naqvi to use a card for all these amenities and drove Naqvi to a gas station on March 7. Surveillance footage from that gas station visit shows Naqvi in the same clothes she wore for her apparently staged photo of being "reunited" with her family. That staged photo went up on Facebook on March 7, but Naqvi didn't even check out of the hotel until March 8.
The sheriff's office also provided screenshots of texts between Naqvi and the witness. Most of them are trivial and confusing, but it is obvious that Naqvi is discussing the hotel where she vacationed while she was supposedly in ICE custody. "worked...going to look into this hotel," two of the messages from her say, followed by "in the room now". Ironically, she pondered not ordering fish because "thought abt the fish in this video" and "what's wrong w humans lol." What's wrong with humans, indeed. The witness eventually replied with a series of messages about visiting Sunny Naqvi at the hotel, including "will be there like 3:15". Then the two later had an interchange questioning if an unidentified individual was "a cop".
Schmidt is right to sue Naqvi and Morrison. There is no excuse for such a publicly-promoted hoax.
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