ICE-Detained Chicago Woman Goes Missing, Agents Claim They Don't Know Where She Is

The family of a Chicago-area woman is demanding answers after US Customs and Border Protection detained her at O'Hare International Airport and federal authorities denied having her, even as her phone traced to their own facility.

Sundas 'Sunny' Naqvi, a US citizen born in Evanston, Illinois, and resident of Skokie, was detained on the morning of 6 March 2026 upon returning from a trip to Turkey. She was held alongside two other US citizens and three Green Card holders, all travelling with Pakistani passports. Federal authorities denied she was in their custody, even as her phone was traced to the ICE detention facility in Broadview, Illinois, by family and supporters gathered outside.

A Family's Search for Answers

Naqvi had left a voicemail for a friend from inside the facility. 'It's the longest that I've ever been at O'Hare,' she said. 'Apparently they can just keep you overnight if they need to. I mean, I know we're at war right now, there's going to be increased security stuff.'

Her parents arrived at the Broadview facility with her birth certificate. Federal agents continued to deny she was inside, even as her phone remained traceable to the building. Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison, a family friend who was present, said plainly: 'We were lied to.'

'The latest that we heard was that they sent ICE agents to search around the facility to see if she was in distress wandering around the facility and somehow oddly ended up in Broadview after being detained at O'Hare for over 30 hours,' Morrison told WBBM. 'Clearly not adding up.'

'This is ridiculous,' Morrison added. 'Clearly this administration does not do a lot of forward thinking and does not deal well when they're caught in sticky situations. We caught them lying through their teeth.'

Hundreds of supporters, activists, and elected officials gathered outside the Broadview facility during the night, demanding transparency and calling for Naqvi's release.

Not an Isolated Case

The Naqvi case is not isolated. Just days earlier, a reporter from Tennessee covering immigration enforcement, Estafany Rodriguez, was detained by ICE agents and her family said they could not locate her. Migrant Insider newsletter editor Pablo Manriquez reported that Rodriguez had been transferred to an ICE facility in Alabama without a warrant of arrest.

Rodriguez entered the US on a tourist visa in March 2021 and remained beyond her authorised stay, according to reports. She entered the country on 10 March 2021 and was authorised to remain only until 23 March 2021.

ICE and the Trump Administration

Courts have ruled more than 4,400 times that ICE jailed people illegally under the Trump administration, according to Reuters. As of February 2026, ICE agents have detained 68,000 people, a 75 per cent increase since Trump took office.

Three US citizens have been fatally shot by immigration agents during Trump's second presidential term: Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed during anti-ICE enforcement protests in Minneapolis in January 2026, and Ruben Ray Martinez, who was fatally shot by an ICE agent in South Padre Island, Texas, in March 2025. Noem was subsequently removed from her position by Trump, who nominated Senator Markwayne Mullin as her replacement, pending Senate confirmation.