Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt filed a federal defamation lawsuit on Monday against Sundas "Sunny" Naqvi, a 28-year-old Skokie, Illinois, woman who claimed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained her at his jail in Juneau, Wisconsin. The suit seeks more than $1 million in damages from Naqvi and Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison, whom Schmidt accuses of spreading the false story.

Naqvi alleged that on March 5, 2026, after arriving at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport from Turkey, federal agents held her for 30 hours before transferring her to an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, and then to the Dodge County jail. She claimed a total detention of nearly 48 hours and release in the early morning of March 7, after which she hitchhiked to a nearby Holiday Inn. Naqvi, a U.S. citizen, said South Asian co-workers faced similar treatment and shared supposed text messages and phone location pings placing her at the facilities.

Her sister, Sarah Afzal, and Morrison, a family friend, amplified the claims through social media, press conferences, her and her protests, prompting media coverage and community outrage. Morrison posted photos with Naqvi captioned about her return to family.

Schmidt detailed the hoax at a press conference on Monday, presenting hotel records, text messages, surveillance footage, and Homeland Security images. Naqvi cleared customs at O'Hare by 11:42 a.m. on March 5 and checked into the Hampton Inn & Suites in Rosemont, Illinois, at 1:17 p.m. Texts to a boyfriend showed her requesting his credit card for food and a "spa lady," despite no spas at the claimed sites. On March 7, she had him drive her to Wisconsin under a pretense, with a video capturing her at a Slinger gas station at 5:46 a.m.

Dodge County Jail records show no booking or contact with Naqvi, and a SAP spokesperson denied her claim of employment there. Schmidt dismissed location screenshots as AI-manipulated and noted Naqvi's history of false reports, including a 2019 guilty plea to a false sexual assault allegation in Skokie.

"This is a serious accusation, and when it is not true, it does real damage," Schmidt said, adding it erodes trust in law enforcement. His office pursues a criminal probe, with no Wisconsin charges yet. Naqvi and Morrison did not comment.