CHICAGO — Following the wrongful detention of multiple U.S. citizens and permanent residents, including Sundas “Sunny” Naqvi, a Skokie woman born in Illinois, progressive candidate for Congress in Illinois’ 7th District and immigrant rights organizer Anabel Mendoza spoke out in a press release criticizing federal immigration enforcement agencies.
Naqvi was among several travelers returning from Turkey who were detained at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, raising concerns from family members, local officials and advocates about the treatment of U.S. citizens by federal authorities.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Naqvi was held at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Thursday along with two other U.S. citizens and three Green Card holders, according to Evanston Now.
It was not until Saturday morning that Naqvi was released from a detention facility in Dodge County, Wisconsin, as her sister, Sarah Afzul, reported to Evanston Now.
On the Friday following her initial detention, “Naqvi’s phone location stopped updating but the last indication was that she was at Broadview’s ICE processing facility.” Despite this, “Cook County Sheriffs told protesters gathered late Friday night that CBP agents said they did not detain Naqvi and that she was never there.”
Evanston Now reports that on Saturday, “Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison said Naqvi’s phone location indicated she was at a detention facility in Dodge County, Wisconsin, where [she] was later released.”
In her press release, Mendoza states, “Sunny’s detention and transfer out of state show exactly how ICE and CBP operate: aggressive and deadly tactics, zero accountability, and devastating consequences for families.”
According to Evanston Now, on Friday afternoon Naqvi “messaged a friend, writing, ‘I think I’m at an ICE detention center,’ before she stopped responding to messages.” Shortly after she stopped responding, “her phone’s location stopped updating late Friday night, with the most recent location being the facility in Broadview.”
When Naqvi “landed Thursday morning, she and her colleagues were detained by CBP for ‘recent travel history,’” which Evanston Now states consisted of Naqvi “initially intend[ing] to fly to India for a work trip, which was canceled during a layover.” She instead traveled to Bulgaria and Austria before returning to Turkey to fly back to Chicago.
Mendoza emphasized that “for months, the Trump administration has been disappearing U.S. citizens, permanent residents, DACA recipients, and others with protected status.”
She additionally noted that “already, more than 170 U.S. citizens have been wrongfully detained, and nearly 90 DACA recipients have been wrongfully deported despite their status.”
After being detained, Naqvi was “held at O’Hare overnight Thursday and had been in contact with her sister, but lost contact Friday afternoon.”
After the loss of contact, Afzul and her friend, Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison, were “denied entry to the facility Friday evening and said agents told them that Naqvi was not at the facility, despite her phone’s live location showing she was,” Evanston Now reported.
Evanston Now emphasized that the same night as Afzul and Morrison, congressional candidate Reed Showalter was at Broadview and “said Cook County Sheriffs said they had searched the facility for Naqvi, but said no one was inside.”
Following this, Morrison “made several calls to elected officials throughout the evening and said he had contacted Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who said CBP told him they had released Naqvi from O’Hare Thursday night,” Evanston Now reported.
Later, after this claim was made, Evanston Now reported that “Cook County Sheriffs in Broadview said CBP officers in the facility told them she was never detained or brought to Broadview.”
As Mendoza stated, “this blatant abuse of power is exactly why we must abolish ICE and CBP, prosecute agents and agency leadership, and ensure individuals like Sunny get the justice they deserve.”
According to Evanston Now, Afzul said that “three Green Card holders were detained but taken and separated from the U.S. citizens Thursday after landing back in Chicago… all three were Pakistani passport holders and said six people were traveling to India for work with a layover in Turkey.”
Afzul additionally mentioned that “the three people on Green Cards had issues in Turkey with their visas, which led to the work trip being canceled and the coworkers traveling elsewhere in the region.”
Because of this, Evanston Now remarked that “all six met back in Turkey before returning on a flight that landed at O’Hare around 10 a.m. Thursday.”
Mendoza concludes her statement by remarking, “In Congress, [she] will fight to invest billions of taxpayer dollars in what actually keeps our communities safe—affordable housing, health care, and access to healthy food—not waste it funding agencies that detain U.S. citizens and target our neighbors.”
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