{"id":7012,"date":"2026-07-29T13:22:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T13:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/?p=7012"},"modified":"2026-08-04T21:22:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T21:22:37","slug":"nun-at-risk-of-third-country-removal-by-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/nun-at-risk-of-third-country-removal-by-ice\/","title":{"rendered":"Nun at Risk of Third-Country Removal by ICE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Amira Abuzeid, EWTN<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

HARLINGEN, Texas \u2014 In the most recent development in an immigration case that has gained national attention, Sister Leticia Ugboaja, the Nigerian Catholic nun and nurse who was briefly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in south Texas in June, was informed today that third-country removal was not off the table, which her attorney called \u201cvery concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a July 28 check-in with ICE officials<\/a> in Harlingen, Texas, Carlos M. Garcia, Sister Ugboaja\u2019s lawyer, told reporters gathered outside the ICE field office that the possibility of third-country removal \u201cis very concerning for us \u2026 That is obviously not what we want. And that\u2019s why we are exploring all our legal alternatives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garcia said he and his client have not yet decided on a specific legal path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a July 23 press conference, he said an immigration judge denied Sister Ugboaja\u2019s application for asylum in 2019 but did grant her protection from removal to Nigeria under the United Nations Convention Against Torture, finding it was likely she would be tortured if she returned there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garcia said this protection legally bars the U.S. government from deporting her to Nigeria<\/a>, though she remains under a final order of removal and could be sent to a third country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Sister Ugboaja\u2019s July 28 check-in, her attorney expressed gratitude that the nun, who has lived in the United States for nearly two decades and has never missed an immigration appointment<\/a>, was not detained and not required to wear an ankle monitor, possibilities he discussed last week. She has another check-in scheduled for Jan. 28, 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re happy that she\u2019s continuing to be able to live her life the way she\u2019s been living it, which is a life of service to the community and to her church family,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday was just a check-in,\u201d he said, and ICE officials \u201cdetermined that [Ugboaja] was able to continue [living] based on the conditions that they had given her before, which is really released on her own word, her own recognizance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A shaken Sister Ugboaja receives support<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sister Ugboaja, a member of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy and a registered nurse at South Texas Health System, was detained<\/a> by two ICE agents on Sunday, June 28, as she walked to Mass at a church where she serves as a Eucharistic minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a press conference last week, the only time she has spoken publicly, she described weeks of \u201cstress, anxiety, and fear\u201d since the detainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though she has felt afraid and hurt, she said she has been trusting in God, quoting Jesus\u2019 admonition to \u201cnot be afraid, because I am with you always.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nun declined to speak with reporters after her check-in July 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sister Norma Pimentel<\/a>, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley and a member of the Missionaries of Jesus in the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, told EWTN News this process has been very difficult for Ugboaja.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe\u2019s such a joyful, happy, and beautiful personality,\u201d Sister Pimentel said. \u201cShe goes to daily Mass, and receiving the Eucharist is so much a part of her strength and her force within her, but this disruption has scared her tremendously.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Sister Ugboaja was released the same day she was detained, in part through the efforts of Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, Sister Pimentel said, \u201cIt was a tough time for her to be in detention<\/a> \u2026 it felt like an eternity for her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sister Pimentel said the nun \u201cjust broke down into tears, uncontrollably\u201d upon her release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, the community has poured out its support, Sister Pimentel said. During this morning\u02bcs check-in at the ICE field office, Father Isaac E. Erondu, a priest from Mission, Texas, led a group of people, including Sister Ugboaja, in prayer before she entered the building with her lawyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A call to Catholics to \u201cstand together strong\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Supporters then prayed the rosary together as they awaited news of Sister Ugboaja\u2019s fate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe\u2019s trying to be strong,\u201d Sister Pimentel said. \u201cShe wants to continue just being herself \u2026 In seeing the support<\/a>, the love, and so many people that are here for her, she knows she\u2019s not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We want her to know \u201cwe are here with you, and you\u2019ll be OK,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a message to Catholics and other supporters concerned with Sister Ugboaja\u2019s case, as well as the nature of ICE\u2019s recent immigration enforcement measures, Sister Pimentel, who has worked on behalf of immigrants on the U.S.-Mexico border<\/a> for more than 20 years, said: \u201cI think that we must stand together strong, supporting the defense of good people that are here in our community \u2026 and not only [Sister Ugboaja], but everybody, so many families who are hurting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe must speak up and ask for \u2026 a process that is more respectful to human life and to the goodness of people,\u201d she continued. \u201cSo many people are here in the community and are really contributing in a positive, good way<\/a>. This should not be happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of ICE\u2019s enforcement measures, Sister Pimentel said: \u201cWe were all thinking this was about picking up criminals, but there\u2019s no criminal sense in all of this, you know? And so all of us must truly stand up and defend the right way of who we are as Americans here in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Featured image: Sister Leticia Ugboaja, a member of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy, is pictured in an undated photo posted on Facebook by Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in McAllen, Texas. Sister Ugboaja was taken into custody June 28, 2026, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as she was walking to Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows Church and was released several hours later. (OSV News\/Our Lady of Sorrows Church, Facebook)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sister Leticia Ugboaja\u2019s attorney says the Nigerian religious, who was detained and released last month, still faces possible deportation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":162,"featured_media":7014,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","_eb_data_table":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1053],"tags":[3018,3016,3017,3020,3023,1168,3019,3025,3022,3021,3024,181,3026],"class_list":["post-7012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-amira-abuzeid","tag-daughters-of-mary-mother-of-mercy","tag-detention","tag-diocese-of-brownsville","tag-father-isaac-e-erondu","tag-ice","tag-nigerian-nun","tag-sister-leticia-ugboaja","tag-sister-norma-pimentel","tag-south-texas-health-system","tag-third-country-removal","tag-u-s-mexico-border","tag-united-nations-convention-against-torture"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNun at Risk of Third-Country Removal by ICE - Maryknoll Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nun at Risk of Third-Country Removal by ICE - Maryknoll Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sister Leticia Ugboaja\u2019s attorney says the Nigerian religious, who was detained and released last month, still faces possible deportation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/nun-at-risk-of-third-country-removal-by-ice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Maryknoll Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-29T13:22:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-04T21:22:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/20260701T0600-ICE-DETENTION-SISTER-LETTY-REAX-1822697_798x447.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"798\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"447\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"EWTN News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"EWTN News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\\\/magazine\\\/nun-at-risk-of-third-country-removal-by-ice\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\\\/magazine\\\/nun-at-risk-of-third-country-removal-by-ice\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"EWTN News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\\\/magazine\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d130d4b69e549131a5812598cbfcd7c7\"},\"headline\":\"Nun at Risk of Third-Country Removal by ICE\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-29T13:22:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-04T21:22:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\\\/magazine\\\/nun-at-risk-of-third-country-removal-by-ice\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":976,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\\\/magazine\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\\\/magazine\\\/nun-at-risk-of-third-country-removal-by-ice\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\\\/magazine\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/20260701T0600-ICE-DETENTION-SISTER-LETTY-REAX-1822697_798x447.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Amira Abuzeid\",\"Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy\",\"detention\",\"Diocese of Brownsville\",\"Father Isaac E. 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