Sister Leticia Ugboaja was walking to Sunday mass in McAllen when two armed men approached her last month. She went into a cold sweat, clutching her rosary and cellphone, unsure what was happening as ICE officers moved toward her in her religious habit.
Speaking publicly for the first time since her June 28 detention, the 56-year-old nun described the confusion and fear of that moment at a Thursday news conference at Our Lady of Sorrows church in McAllen, near the US-Mexico border.
"Honestly, in that moment, I did not understand what was going on, what was happening to me," Ugboaja said.
She was held for several hours before being released. Social media posts from parish officials about her arrest drew public attention, and congressional intervention followed. But Ugboaja said staying silent was not an option.
"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," she said, urging people to be heard before immigration enforcement acts.
Ugboaja, a registered nurse with the South Texas Health System, has worked in the medical field for more than a decade. She is a member of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy and served as an extraordinary minister of holy communion at her parish.
Her attorney, Carlos Garcia, explained that an immigration judge denied her asylum application in 2019 but granted her withholding of removal to Nigeria, her native country, on the grounds that she would likely face torture there. Ugboaja obtained work authorization and complied with all legal requirements imposed on her.
When ICE arrested her, she received minimal explanation for the detention. Garcia said the government planned to remove her to a third country under Trump administration policy, which has drawn criticism from lawyers and human rights organizations for lacking transparency and adequate legal review.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment about Ugboaja's case or the broader removal policy.
Ugboaja recounted asking the arresting officers to allow her to attend mass and receive communion. She was refused.
"For me, a nun, not to go to mass on Sunday, not to receive communion, it was very, very heartbreaking for me," she said.
She faces a check-in appointment with ICE on Tuesday. Despite her gratitude to those who helped secure her release, Ugboaja said she felt compelled to speak out about her own experience and the plight of others caught in similar circumstances.
Author James Rodriguez: "A nun detained without clear explanation on her way to church exposes real gaps between immigration enforcement and due process, especially when applied to people already granted legal protection."
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