The ICE arrest of a nun walking to church in South Texas has ignited widespread outrage and prompted a Catholic bishop to demand answers, calling the circumstances wildly disturbing. Sister Leticia “Letty” Ugboaja, a 56-year-old nun from Nigeria, was detained on Sunday as she made a short walk to Mass, only to be released hours later after members of Congress stepped in.

The episode has raised urgent questions about immigration enforcement protocols and left a South Texas religious community shaken.

A Peaceful Walk Interrupted

On Sunday morning, Sister Letty set out for Our Lady of Sorrows to attend Mass, a walk of roughly a block from her home. According to Sister Norma Pimentel, who oversees the diocese’s charitable arm, Ugboaja never made it to the church.

Federal immigration agents detained her before she arrived, abruptly transforming an ordinary Sunday ritual into a frightening ordeal.

Fear and Confusion in Custody

While in custody, Ugboaja managed to call for help. She reported that she was being transferred to an ICE detention facility in Raymondville, about an hour’s drive from the church, Pimentel said. Compounding her distress, the nun needed medication that agents reportedly would not allow her to retrieve.

Pimentel described a woman overwhelmed by fear and confusion, saying Ugboaja was distraught and scared and did not understand what was happening to her.

Ugboaja, a member of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy, has worked as a registered nurse in South Texas for around a decade. On the advice of counsel, she declined to be interviewed, according to diocese spokesperson Brenda Riojas.

A Bishop Demands Reform

The Catholic Diocese of Brownsville moved quickly to gather information about the arrest, and Bishop Daniel E. Flores did not hold back in his response. He acknowledged that many questions remained about what happened, but he was unequivocal about the broader implications.

Flores stated that enforcement protocols allowing a religious sister, or anyone, to be detained and handcuffed while peacefully walking to church on a Sunday morning are wildly disturbing and in need of reform. His words captured the disbelief felt across the community.

LULAC, the nation’s largest Latino civil rights organization, joined the chorus, calling for a full investigation into the arrest. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to repeated questions from The Texas Tribune sent Sunday and Tuesday.

Lawmakers Intervene Across Party Lines

As news of the detention spread, federal lawmakers from South Texas sprang into action, and notably, the response crossed party lines. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, a Republican from Edinburg, and Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat from Laredo, each said in social media posts that they were communicating directly with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin about the situation.

De La Cruz drew a sharp line about the proper targets of enforcement, arguing that immigration efforts should focus on violent criminals and insisting that a Catholic nun on her way to church posed no threat to the community.

Other Democrats piled on with criticism. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen and Bobby Pulido, a Democrat challenging De La Cruz, both denounced the detention. Pulido went further, faulting the Republican congresswoman for supporting the very policies he said had left the community living in fear of ICE enforcement.

The intervention echoed past efforts by these lawmakers, including De La Cruz, who had previously stepped in on other high-profile ICE detentions, such as one involving award-winning high school mariachi performers.

A Tearful Homecoming

The pressure worked. Shortly after the lawmakers got involved, they announced that Ugboaja would be released. Cuellar shared the news in an evening post, saying he was pleased to report that Sister Letty was on her way home.

The announcement changed everything for Pimentel, who had been searching for documents proving Ugboaja was in the country legally. Instead, she rushed to the El Valle Detention Facility to welcome the nun home, texting the Tribune her relief and gratitude as she waited.

Footage aired by Telemundo captured the emotional moment Ugboaja walked out of the facility in tears, only to be embraced by Pimentel.

A Community on Edge

For Pimentel, the incident marked a troubling turning point. She said that until recently, there had been no concerns about the status of international nuns serving the diocese, but Ugboaja’s detention shattered that sense of security.

Going forward, she plans to ask all the sisters to provide copies of their documents and to carry identification with them at all times, a precaution that would have seemed unnecessary just days earlier.

The broader message was not lost on local political figures. Julio Salinas, co-chair of the Texas Democratic Party’s Hispanic Caucus and a candidate for a statehouse seat, celebrated Ugboaja’s release while condemning her arrest. He called the incident a stark wake-up call, warning that it proved a harrowing truth: even the most respected members of the community are not safe.

As the diocese continues to press for answers, Sister Letty’s ordeal has become a flashpoint in the ongoing debate over how immigration enforcement is carried out, and who ends up caught in its reach.