Federal immigration agents detained a Catholic nun as she walked to Sunday mass in McAllen, Texas, an incident that has prompted questions from lawmakers and church officials about enforcement priorities along the southern border.
Sister Leticia Ugboaja, a Nigerian national and member of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy congregation, was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on her way to Our Lady of Sorrows Church. The Catholic Diocese of Brownsville confirmed the detention in a press release issued following her release later that same day.
Sister Ugboaja serves as a registered nurse at South Texas Health System and previously worked for a decade as a certified nursing assistant at a health center in Edinburg, Texas. She also volunteers as a minister at the church where she was headed when detained.
The circumstances surrounding her arrest remain unclear. The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to multiple requests for comment regarding the detention or the specific grounds for taking Sister Ugboaja into custody.
The incident has drawn bipartisan criticism from Texas congressional representatives. Republican Representative Monica De La Cruz, whose office worked with DHS to secure Sister Ugboaja’s release, stated that immigration enforcement should focus on violent criminals rather than religious figures. “A Catholic nun on her way to church is not a threat to our community,” De La Cruz wrote on social media.
Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar echoed these concerns, noting that reports of the nun’s arrest raise serious questions about how immigration enforcement resources are being deployed.
Bishop Daniel E. Flores of the Diocese of Brownsville issued a strong condemnation of the arrest. While expressing gratitude for Sister Ugboaja’s release, he described enforcement protocols that permit the detention and handcuffing of individuals peacefully walking to church on Sunday morning as “wildly disturbing.”
“Sister Letty is a well-known source of goodness and hope in our community,” Bishop Flores said in his statement. He emphasized that many questions remain about the circumstances of the arrest and called for reforms to current enforcement procedures.
The diocese has stated it continues to gather information about what led to Sister Ugboaja’s detention and the manner in which she was apprehended. Church officials thanked local representatives who intervened with DHS on her behalf.
The incident occurs amid heightened immigration enforcement activity along the Texas-Mexico border. However, the detention of a religious sister with established community ties and a decade-long work history in the healthcare field has prompted broader questions about discretion in enforcement actions and whether current protocols adequately distinguish between security threats and contributing members of local communities.
As federal authorities have yet to provide an explanation for the detention, the case continues to generate concern among both religious and civic leaders in South Texas about the direction and focus of immigration enforcement operations.
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