Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The arrest of a 56‑year‑old Nigerian nun as she walked to Sunday Mass in her religious habit has ignited a rare bipartisan backlash in South Texas, with lawmakers and church leaders demanding answers from federal immigration authorities after Sister Leticia “Letty” Ugboaja was handcuffed and held for hours before being released following congressional intervention.
Sister Ugboaja, a member of the Nigerian‑based Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy and a registered nurse who has served the Rio Grande Valley for nearly a decade, was detained on the morning of Sunday, June 28, 2026, just steps from Our Lady of Sorrows Church in McAllen, Texas, where she was to serve as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. According to the Washington Post, federal immigration officers stopped her, confiscated her rosary, and placed her in handcuffs.
“She was very distraught and scared, and didn’t understand what was happening,” Sister Norma Pimentel, who manages the diocese’s charitable arm, told the Texas Tribune. Sister Ugboaja, who lives about a block from the church, called for help while in custody and said she was being transferred to an ICE detention facility in Raymondville, about an hour away. She also needed medication, which federal agents reportedly did not allow her to retrieve.
News of the detention spread rapidly through a social media post by the church, prompting swift intervention from South Texas lawmakers. U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R‑Texas) announced she spoke directly with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin about the matter, while U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D‑Texas) also intervened. “As I have repeatedly said, our immigration enforcement should target violent criminals,” De La Cruz said in a Facebook post. “A Catholic nun on her way to church is not a threat to our community”. Sister Ugboaja was released later that Sunday evening.
Bishop Daniel E. Flores of the Diocese of Brownsville described the incident as “wildly disturbing” and called for reform of Homeland Security enforcement protocols. “There are many questions remaining about the circumstances surrounding Sister Letty’s arrest and detention,” Bishop Flores said in a statement. “For now, it is clear that Homeland Security enforcement protocols that make it possible for a religious sister, or anyone, to be detained and handcuffed while peacefully walking to Church on a Sunday morning are wildly disturbing and need to be reformed”.
Sister Ugboaja, who has spent nearly a decade serving the Rio Grande Valley as a registered nurse at South Texas Health System at McAllen Medical Center and previously as a certified nursing assistant at DHR Health in Edinburg, declined to be interviewed on the advice of counsel. However, a fellow religious sister, Sister Rose Patrice Kuhn, told OSV News that “the power of prayer” was key to Sister Letty’s release. Sister Rose recounted that many parishioners were crying and praying outside Sister Letty’s home as they awaited her release. “She said to me, ‘I never knew I was so loved,’” Sister Rose recalled, her voice filled with emotion.
The incident has left foreign‑born religious communities in the Rio Grande Valley on edge. “Just imagine how it affects the other sisters,” said Sister Rose. “There are many here who are not from the United States originally. There are a good number who are here on different kinds of visas, and who have been here for years, working with the parishes and with migrants”. The Department of Homeland Security and ICE have not responded to multiple requests for comment.
The arrest of Sister Letty, who entered the United States legally, has become a flashpoint in the national debate over immigration enforcement, highlighting the tensions between federal crackdowns and the protection of religious workers. As one border resident put it, “If a nun in her habit walking to Mass isn't safe, who is?”
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