Questions on why ICE arrested a nun proceed to develop after her launch from custody.
The Catholic Diocese of Brownsville stated that on Sunday, Sister Leticia Ugboaja was detained by brokers as she was strolling to attend mass at Our Girl of Sorrows Church in McAllen, Texas.
Sister Ugboaja, a Nigerian nationwide, is a registered nurse at South Texas Well being System and was an authorized nursing assistant at well being middle in Edinburg, Texas, for 10 years, the Diocese stated in a press launch. She’s a part of the Daughters of Mary Mom of Mercy congregation and volunteers as a minister at Our Girl of Sorrows Church.
Sister Ugboaja was launched the identical day she was detained, based on Rep. Monica De La Cruz, a Republican, who initially posted on Fb that her workplace was working with DHS to “resolve Sister Letty’s detainment as shortly as doable.”
In an announcement, the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville stated: “Right now, we’re persevering with to collect data concerning the circumstances that led to Sister Leticia’s detainment and the way by which she was detained.”
The Division of Homeland Safety didn’t reply to a number of requests for remark or requests for added details about why she was detained.
In her social media put up, De La Cruz stated: “As I’ve repeatedly stated, our immigration enforcement ought to goal violent criminals. A Catholic nun on her option to church is just not a menace to our group,” she stated on Fb.
The solar beams over the Our Girl of Sorrows Church in McAllen, Texas, Monday, June 29, 2026.
Valerie Gonzalez/AP Picture/Valerie Gonzalez
Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar stated in a put up on X that stories concerning the nun’s arrest “elevate critical issues about how immigration enforcement sources are getting used.”
Within the press launch, the diocese thanked native representatives who reached out to DHS on Sister Ugboaja’s behalf.
Bishop Daniel E. Flores condemned the arrest.
“Sister Letty is a widely known supply of goodness and hope in our group, and I’m grateful she has been launched. There are lots of questions remaining concerning the circumstances surrounding Sister Letty’s arrest and detention,” Bishop Flores stated in an announcement.
“For now, it’s clear that Homeland Safety enforcement protocols that make it doable for a non secular sister, or anybody, to be detained and handcuffed whereas peacefully strolling to Church on a Sunday morning are wildly disturbing and have to be reformed,” he added.
