The Catholic Diocese of Brownsville is working to gather information on Sunday’s arrest of a nun as she was walking to church in McAllen, calling circumstances behind the actions by federal immigration agents “wildly disturbing.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials detained Sister Leticia “Letty” Ugboaja, a 56-year-old nun from Nigeria, and released her later Sunday after South Texas members of Congress intervened.
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“There are many questions remaining about the circumstances surrounding Sister Letty’s arrest and detention,” Bishop Daniel E. 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.”
LULAC, the country’s largest Latino civil rights organization, also called for an investigation into the arrest.
The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to multiple questions sent Sunday and Tuesday by The Texas Tribune.
Ugboaja, who is part of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy and has worked as a registered nurse for around a decade in South Texas, declined to be interviewed on the advice of counsel, said Brenda Riojas, a diocese spokesperson.
On Sunday morning, Ugboaja was taking a short walk to Our Lady of Sorrows for Mass. She lives just about a block from the church, according to Sister Norma Pimentel, who manages the diocese’s charitable arm.
Federal immigration agents detained her before she could arrive.
Ugboaja called for help while in custody and said she was being transferred to an ICE detention facility in Raymondville, about an hour drive from the church, according to Pimentel. The detained nun also needed medication, which Pimentel said federal agents didn’t allow her to get.
“She was very distraught and scared, and didn’t understand what was happening,” Pimentel told the Tribune on Sunday.
As news spread about Ugboaja’s detention, federal lawmakers in South Texas got involved.
U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Edinburg, and U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, said in separate social media posts Sunday afternoon that they were communicating directly with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin about the situation.
“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.”
U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, and Bobby Pulido, a Democrat who is running against De La Cruz, also criticized her detention on social media. Pulido further knocked the GOP congresswoman’s support for “the very policies that led to our community living in fear of ICE enforcement.” Prior to Ugboaja, members of Congress including De La Cruz had also intervened in other high-profile ICE detentions, including award-winning high school mariachi performers.
Shortly after, lawmakers announced that Ugboaja would be released.
“I’m pleased to share that Sister Letty is on her way home,” Cuellar said in a 5:39 p.m. post on X.
The news prompted Pimentel to stop searching for documents showing Ugboaba was in the United States legally and instead rush to the El Valle Detention Facility to welcome Ugboaja home.
“Any minute now,” Pimentel said in a text to the Tribune at 6:40 p.m. “Yes praise God.”
Ugboaja then walked out of the facility in tears before being embraced by Pimentel, as seen in footage aired by Telemundo.
Until recently, Pimentel said, there had not been any concerns around the status of international nuns at the diocese. Ugboaja’s detention changed that for her.
“I will definitely ask all the sisters to please give me a copy of their documents and to carry something with them all the time,” she said.
Julio Salinas, co-chair of the Texas Democratic Party’s Hispanic Caucus who is running for a statehouse seat in the area, cheered Ugboaja’s release but blasted her arrest.
“This is a stark wake-up call for all of us,” he said in a Tuesday statement. “It proves one harrowing truth: even the best of us are not safe.”