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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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Κατερίνα Παπαδοπούλου

I cannot understand how a person going to mass with her rosary and cell phone ended up being arrested by armed men. Sister Leticia already had protection from deportation due to torture in Nigeria – why did it have to come this far?

Laura Wright

That detail about her walking to Mass in her habit, just holding her rosary and thinking about the Bible readings, really stuck with me. She already had legal protection from removal because of the risk of torture back in Nigeria, so detaining her like that on a Sunday morning feels pointless. I wonder what the ICE guys were actually told before they approached her.

Νίκος Αναγνώστου

Really, I don't understand why she had to be approached by two armed men while she was going to mass with her rosary and cell phone, thinking about the readings. She already had protection from deportation due to torture in Nigeria, and she was let go after a few hours only when parishioners found out and it came out on social media. Did someone mix up the cards?

Θεόδωρος Καραγιάννης

I don't understand either, Katerina. She just went to mass with the rosary and the cell phone, as you say, and was stopped by armed men. Since it already had protection, why didn't they check it first? They are probably exaggerating the Trump policy.

Παναγιώτης Νικολαΐδης

They may have mixed up the cards, Nico, but with Trump's push for mass deportations, it's not out of the question that such mistakes will be made down the road. The fact that she was only let go after she took to social media shows that the system doesn't always work properly. What do you think, should she have had some more paper with her?

Αναστασία Μιχαηλίδου

I wish it was just a mess of papers, Panagiotis. The fact that she was held up on her way to service in cassock and rosary shows that the pressure for quick dismissals can lead to hasty mistakes. I'd say a simple list of her credentials would help, but then again, it's not a nun's job to run around with a file every Sunday. what are you saying