- DHS agents detained six legal residents at O’Hare International Airport following international travel.
- Authorities cited curious travel history as the justification for holding U.S. citizens and green card holders.
- Local officials and family demanded federal transparency after tracking a detainee through multiple facilities.
(CHICAGO, ILLINOIS) — Department of Homeland Security agents detained six legal U.S. residents at O’Hare International Airport on Thursday, March 5, 2026, after they returned from overseas travel, prompting questions from family members and local officials about why they were held and where they were taken.
The group included three U.S. citizens and three green card holders, all of Pakistani descent, and authorities cited a vague reason tied to travel history, using the phrase “curious travel history,” with no further cause specified.
Attention quickly focused on Sunny Naqvi, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen from the Chicago suburbs, after relatives and elected officials said they struggled for hours to confirm her location while she moved through ICE facilities in Illinois and Wisconsin.
Naqvi was born in Evanston, raised there and in Skokie, and graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, details her supporters and family pointed to as they argued the detention should alarm travelers who expect clear answers at ports of entry.
Beyond those basics, public details about the other five detainees remained limited as of Monday, with their identities not laid out publicly in the information shared by officials and family accounts.
Family members said the group originally planned a work trip to India about six weeks earlier, but authorities denied them boarding.
Naqvi and others then traveled to Bulgaria, Austria, and Turkey instead, and they returned to the United States through O’Hare, where DHS agents detained them and told them their travel pattern raised concerns, according to relatives and officials who spoke with the family.
Relatives said DHS held the group initially at O’Hare for 30 hours, an extended period that drew local scrutiny because it unfolded largely out of public view, with family members seeking updates while Naqvi remained in custody.
After those 30 hours, Naqvi was transferred to the Broadview ICE facility in Illinois, according to the accounts provided by officials and family members.
Family members said they tracked Naqvi’s whereabouts using phone location data that pinged at Broadview, even as agents denied to the family that she was in custody there.
Sarah Afzal, Naqvi’s sister, also identified as Sarah Afzul, said agents “were lying to our faces” about custody, and she described the episode as frightening even for U.S.-born citizens.
Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison, a family friend, helped track Naqvi’s location and spoke to her on Friday around 1:30 PM, according to the account shared by officials involved with the family’s response.
Dozens gathered outside Broadview Friday night seeking her release, part of a growing public push for information as people sought confirmation of where Naqvi and the others were being held.
Relatives and elected officials said Naqvi was later moved from Broadview to a Dodge County, Wisconsin ICE facility, another step in the transfers that family members said they pieced together as they searched for clear answers.
Naqvi was released early Saturday, March 7, 2026, after being held for approximately 43 hours, according to the information provided by officials and family members.
Her release did not immediately end the uncertainty, relatives said, because Naqvi’s phone was dead and she had to hitchhike to a hotel so her family could pick her up.
Morrison attended a Sunday, March 8 press conference and demanded federal transparency and accountability, amplifying the family’s calls for a clearer explanation of what triggered the detentions at O’Hare and how the group moved through custody.
Elected officials involved in the response also described the conditions of the aftermath in basic terms, saying Naqvi’s first shower and meal came Sunday.
DHS had not responded to media inquiries as of Monday, March 9, leaving unresolved questions about why the six travelers were detained and where the other five remained, even as family members and local officials pressed for information.
The lack of an on-the-record DHS explanation also kept the focus on the limited rationale provided at O’Hare, where relatives said officers invoked “curious travel history,” without giving additional specifics.
At U.S. airports, inspections can include secondary screening and extended questioning, a reality that travelers sometimes experience when returning from abroad, though the scope and duration can differ depending on circumstances.
Legal status can also shape how those encounters unfold, with U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents both subject to inspection at ports of entry, but with different legal footing, a distinction raised in community discussions as supporters pointed out that Naqvi is a U.S. citizen.
By Monday, Naqvi was home but too shaken to speak publicly, and her family said she still lacked her passport.
No lawsuit had been filed yet, but Naqvi’s attorney and officials were considering action, Morrison said as he and others continued to press for answers.
The central unanswered question remained the status of the other five detainees—two additional U.S. citizens and three green card holders—whose whereabouts and release timing were still unclear as relatives and elected officials sought confirmation from federal authorities.
