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Nun speaks out for first time about being detained by ICE while walking to Mass in Texas

July 24, 2026 · 1 min read

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — A nun who was   taken into immigration custody   last month in Texas said Thursday that she went into a cold sweat as two armed men approached her while she walked to Sunday Mass in her habit, thinking about the day’s Bible readings and carrying little more than her rosary and cellphone.

“Honestly, in that moment, I did not understand what was going on, what was happening to me,” Sister Leticia Ugboaja said at a news conference at   Our Lady of Sorrows Church   in McAllen, where she spoke out for the first time since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested her on June 28.

Ugboaja’s attorney says she has for years been granted protection from removal to her native Nigeria because she was likely to face torture there.

Ugboaja, 56, was released several hours after being detained while on her way to church near the U.S.-Mexico border. Parish officials’ posting about her on social media brought attention to her case, and Congress members ultimately intervened on her behalf. President Donald Trump made mass deportations a central promise of his second administration, with his   immigration crackdown   leading to unusually   aggressive…

Source: Religion News Service  ·  Read the full story →
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