South Texas nun still at risk of third-country removal following ICE check in, attorney says

In the most recent development in an immigration case that has gained national attention, Sister Leticia Ugboaja, the Nigerian Catholic nun and nurse who was briefly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in south Texas in June, was informed today that third-country removal was not off the table, which her attorney called “very concerning.”

After a July 28 check-in with ICE officials in Harlingen, Texas, Carlos M. Garcia, Ugboaja’s lawyer, told reporters gathered outside the ICE field office that the possibility of third-country removal “is very concerning for us ... That is obviously not what we want. And that’s why we are exploring all our legal alternatives.”

Garcia said he and his client have not yet decided on a specific legal path.

At a July 23 press conference , he said an immigration judge denied Ugboaja’s application for asylum in 2019 but did grant her protection from removal to Nigeria under the United Nations Convention Against Torture , finding it was likely she would be tortured if she returned there.

Garcia said this protection legally bars the U.S. government from deporting her to Nigeria, though she remains under a final order of…