While he is thankful and relieved that Sister Leticia Ugboaja will be able to remain serving in the Rio Grande Valley as her immigration case continues, Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, Bishop Daniel Flores said July 29 that the outcome of her situation is still “an open question,” as it is for many others in similar circumstances.
The Texas bishop, who also serves as vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), released a statement following Ugboaja’s July 28 ICE check-in, at which she was informed third-country removal was not off the table.
“We are grateful to God for Tuesday’s news that Sister Leticia ‘Letty’ Ugboaja will be able remain in our community while her case is allowed to move forward,” Flores said. While the Church feels “some relief” at the moment, he added, “we also remember that it is important to continue praying for and accompanying the many individuals and families who live in fear and anxiety as they seek a way to resolve their immigration status.”
“The prospect of deportation to a third country frightens many persons who, like Sister Letty, have violated no laws, and who have been granted permission to stay while conditions in their country of origin remain life-threatening,” Flores said.
Flores recalled the special message the USCCB issued in November 2025 in which the bishops urged meaningful immigration reform. “We can be a nation of both respect for law and of well-considered compassion for persons at risk in their own countries,” Flores pointed out, calling for political consensus that “defends the common good, protects the vulnerable, and treats all persons whose immigration status is being reviewed with humanity.”
“May God guide us in building a society reflecting both justice and mercy,” he emphasized.
Status of Sister Letty
On July 28, Ugboaja’s attorney, Carlos Garcia, told reporters gathered outside the ICE field office where her check-in took place that the possibility of third-country removal “is very concerning for us … That is obviously not what we want. And that’s why we are exploring all our legal alternatives.”
Ugboaja, a member of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy and a registered nurse at South Texas Health System, was detained by two ICE agents on Sunday, June 28, as she walked to Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in McAllen, where she serves as a Eucharistic minister.
She was released the same day after the intervention of several political leaders.
At a press conference last week, Garcia said an immigration judge denied Ugboaja’s 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.
Garcia said this protection legally bars the U.S. government from deporting her to Nigeria, though she remains under a final order of removal and could be sent to a third country.
After Ugboaja’s 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, was not detained and not required to wear an ankle monitor, possibilities he had discussed last week. The nun has another check-in scheduled for Jan. 28, 2027.
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