{"id":15191,"date":"2026-07-24T01:00:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T20:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=15191"},"modified":"2026-07-24T01:00:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T20:00:36","slug":"nun-who-was-detained-by-ice-while-walking-to-mass-in-texas-says-many-are-in-her-situation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=15191","title":{"rendered":"Nun who was detained by ICE while walking to Mass in Texas says many are in her situation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \"><span class=\"oyrPY qlwaB AGxeB  \">McALLEN, Texas &#8212; <\/span>A nun who was <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/nun-ice-immigration-texas-mcallen-96582ec2ab9582b0b0b5a6ba3c38153b\">taken into immigration custody<\/a> after being arrested while walking to Mass in her habit last month in Texas pleaded Thursday for people to have the chance to be heard before being taken into custody, saying she was speaking out to help others. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cThere 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,\u201d Sister Leticia Ugboaja, who is from Nigeria, said at a news conference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Ugboaja was released several hours after being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on June 28 while walking <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/religion-churches-trump-immigration-crackdown-sanctuary-2746fa5c80aa8e2ce6db878e0d6e1c24\">to Our Lady of Sorrows Church<\/a> in McAllen, a few miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Parish officials posting on social media brought attention to Ugboaja\u2019s arrest, and Congress members ultimately intervened on the nun\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Her attorney, Carlos Garcia, said Thursday that in 2019 an immigration judge denied her application for asylum but also granted her protection from removal because she was likely to face torture in Nigeria. Garcia said Ugboaja has complied with everything required of her and had permission to work in the U.S. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">When ICE detained Ugboaja in June, she wasn&#8217;t given much explanation as to why she was taken into custody but that the U.S. planned to remove her to a third country, Garcia said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Lawyers and human rights groups have criticized the Trump administration\u2019s <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-speedy-deportations-lawsuit-aclu-judge-cd0ffc2dc1df05568952e9149569bbbb\">third-country removal policy<\/a>, which has faced legal challenges.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond to a request to comment on Ugboaja&#8217;s case on Thursday and did not respond to requests for comment after her detention in June.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Ugboaja has a check-in with ICE set for next week, her lawyer noted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Ugboaja is part of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy and volunteered as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Brownsville has said. Ugboaja is also a registered nurse at South Texas Health System and worked previously for 10 years as a certified nursing assistant in Edinburg, the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">President Donald Trump\u2019s <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/congress-immigration-ice-deportation-budget-be983b14f60a5cdfc17af7cf0307f1c9\">immigration crackdown<\/a> \u2014 including at <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-immigration-ice-raids-school-2d899678264f44fe1021847ee385fd15\">sensitive sites<\/a> such as houses of worship \u2014 has prompted faith leaders to adjust their response to church members who have become too afraid to attend. Some have encouraged online attendance, while others have offered help doing errands such as grocery shopping for people too fearful to leave their homes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">___<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">Associated Press writer Jamie Stengle contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>McALLEN, Texas &#8212; A nun who was taken into immigration custody after being arrested while walking to Mass in her habit last month in Texas pleaded Thursday for people to have the chance to be heard before being taken into custody, saying she was speaking out to help others. \u201cThere are many others in this&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/4e86dcb6-d3f7-407f-8f4c-b16d59b6ca8c\/wirestory_d4937d291570e9b151add91c36020dd4_16x9.jpg?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}