Sundas “Sunny” Naqvi, who is a US citizen of Pakistani origin, has been hit with a $1m lawsuit, which slams her claims of being detained by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for about two days as a hoax. According to the details of the legal action relayed by US reports, Dodge County (Wisconsin) Sheriff Dale Schmidt is suing for defamation.
Contesting her claims that went public last month, the official has accused the 28-year-old woman of lying about being held in the Broadview US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility and subsequently being transferred to Dodge County, Wisconsin, as per ABC7Chicago’s report.
“Sundas Naqvi was not detained by ICE at anytime. She was not transported to Broadview detention facility. She was not transported across state lines to Dodge County, by law enforcement anyway. She was not in the custody of the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office,” Sheriff Dale Schmidt said Friday (US time).
‘Hoax’: Pakistani American woman accused of faking ICE detention claims
In his lawsuit, Sheriff Schmidt flipped Naqvi’s story altogether, saying that the 28-year-old was actually staying at a hotel near Chicago O’Hare International Airport, from where she allegedly sent text messages from her room.
Last month, Naqvi’s family and supporters rallied against the DHS after Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison (a family friend) backed her claims, suggesting that the Skokie resident was detained by immigration officials at the Chicago airport for 30 hours after she returned from a business trip with five of her coworkers.
In statements shared with multiple US news outlets at the time, Naqvi’s family members alleged that US authorities lied to them that she was not in custody. They continued insisting that Sunny was sent to the Broadview ICE facility after being detained at O’Hare for 30 hours. An ABC7 report also indicated that her family claimed Naqvi was transferred to a Dodge County facility in Wisconsin at one point. This is believed to have been the location where she was allegedly released from.
In his recent lawsuit, Schmidt said that Naqvi checked into the “into the Hampton Inn and Suites in Rosemont, Illinois for the entire duration of this alleged event, traveled from the Hampton Inn and Suites in Illinois to the Holiday Express in Beaver Dam, (Wisconsin), was done to complete this hoax,” as quoted by ABC7Chicago. He also accused her of scamming an individual out of thousands of dollars “in pursuit of this hoax against the federal government and the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office.”
While at a news conference, Schmidt even displayed what he claims are messages from Sunny at the time she said she was being detained. “Going to look into this hotel,” read one such alleged message, in addition to “in the room now.” An image appearing to show Naqvi at a Wisconsin store during the time she claimed Dodge County officials were holding her was also shown at the event.
Additionally, Schmidt said that Naqvi had a history of lying to the authorities. According to court records cited by the US report, Naqvi filed a false police report with Skokie police in a 2019 case. At the time, she claimed that she was sexually assaulted in a park. Ultimately, Naqvi pleaded guilty, which resulted in the case being dismissed after she served two years of probation.
Cook County Commissioner also sued in alleged ICE detention ‘hoax’
As previously revealed by CBS News, Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morisson is a friend of Naqvi’s family. Sheriff Schmidt is now also suing him for defamation after Morisson held a press conference on behalf of the 28-year-old woman last month.
“Allegations of an illegal detention of a US citizen, allegations of a government cover up by federal authorities and the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office, coordinated messaging designed to generate outrage and media attention,” Schmidt said. “Misuse of the system will not go unanswered. This is Dodge County, Wisconsin, not Cook County, and we will hold them accountable.”
The Cook County Commissioner, on the other hand, responded to the development: “It is my understanding that a lawsuit has been filed. I have not seen it. And if a suit has in fact been filed, I cannot comment on pending litigation,” as quoted by ABC7.
What were Sunny Naqvi’s claims against the DHS?
At the time, US reports suggested that the Evanston native’s family had accused DHS of unlawfully detaining her despite her lawful status as a US citizen. Naqvi and her coworkers were reportedly scheduled to travel to India for a work trip at the time. However, it all fell through during a layover, when the India-bound trip was cancelled due to visa issues, according to EvanstonNow.com.
Among the six people, three were US citizens, including Sunny, and three others were green card holders with Pakistani passports. Sarah Afzal, Naqvi’s sister, told EvanstonNow.com last month that as the India trip was cancelled, Sunny ended up travelling to Bulgaria and Austria instead. Thereafter, she is said to have been detained at the Chicago airport upon her return to the US over what her attorney claimed then was a “curious travel history,” ABC7 reported.
At one point during her alleged detention, Naqvi is said to have messaged a friend saying, “I think I’m at an ICE detention centre,” after which she stopped replying. Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison also said at the time that her family lost her location after having previously been in contact with her.
Even as Naqvi’s case drew national attention last month, the Dodge County sheriff had denied that she was booked at a facility in his county at the time. Reiterating his remarks, the sheriff asserted that the Pakistani-American woman was detained at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, but only for a little over an hour, and not 30 hours as she alleged.
The DHS also disputed her claims by releasing surveillance images they said showed that Naqvi managed to leave the Chicago airport about 90 minutes after she landed. Similarly, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) branded Sunny’s allegations as “blatantly false” in a statement quoted by CBS News earlier.
“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,” read the CBP statement. The agency’s spokesperson further shared, “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.”