Nun detained by ICE says arrest on way to Mass was heartbreaking
Sister Leticia Ugboaja said ICE held her for hours in Texas despite removal protection, as her lawyer says she faces a new check-in.
By Maya Lindqvist · Senior Technology Correspondent
3 min read
Sister Leticia Ugboaja, the nun detained by ICE last month while walking to Sunday Mass in Texas, spoke publicly Thursday for the first time about the arrest that drew attention from parishioners and members of Congress.
Ugboaja, 56, said at a news conference at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in McAllen that she was in her habit, carrying her rosary and cellphone, when two armed men approached her on June 28. She said she was thinking about the day’s Bible readings and did not understand what was happening as she was taken into custody.
Her lawyer, Carlos M. Garcia, said Ugboaja has had legal protection from being sent back to Nigeria for years because an immigration judge found she would likely face torture there. He said she had followed the government’s requirements, had permission to work in the United States and is scheduled for an ICE check-in on Tuesday.
Why was the nun detained by ICE?
Garcia said ICE gave little explanation when officers detained Ugboaja, according to The Associated Press. He said the U.S. government planned to remove her to a third country rather than Nigeria.
In 2019, an immigration judge rejected Ugboaja’s asylum application but granted her protection from removal to Nigeria, Garcia said. That protection does not grant asylum, but it can block deportation to a country where a person is found likely to face torture.
Ugboaja was released several hours after the detention. Parish officials posted about her case on social media, and congressional offices later intervened on her behalf, the AP reported.
What is third-country removal?
Third-country removal refers to sending a person to a country other than the one they are from. Lawyers and human rights groups have criticized the Trump administration’s use of the policy, and it has faced court challenges.
The Department of Homeland Security has said such agreements let asylum seekers pursue protection in another country and help address large immigration court backlogs, according to the AP. DHS and ICE did not respond to AP requests for comment on Ugboaja’s case Thursday or after her detention in June.
Ugboaja said she decided to speak because other immigrants with legal protections still live with uncertainty. She asked that people have a chance to be heard before they are taken into custody.
“There are many others in this same situation, people who have been given some form of protection under our laws, who have followed every rule asked of them, and who still live with uncertainty,” Ugboaja said.
A Diocese of Brownsville spokesperson has said Ugboaja belongs to the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy and volunteered as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion at Our Lady of Sorrows Church. The spokesperson said she is also a registered nurse at South Texas Health System and previously spent 10 years working as a certified nursing assistant in Edinburg.
Ugboaja said she pleaded with officers to allow her to attend Mass and receive Holy Communion before they took her away. She said being unable to attend Sunday Mass as a nun was “very, very heartbreaking.”
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.