Nun detained by ICE while walking to Mass in Texas

A Catholic nun in her habit was handcuffed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents a block from Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in McAllen while walking to Mass, turning an ordinary trip to worship into a stark image of immigration enforcement in South Texas. Sister Leticia “Letty” Ugboaja was released several hours later.

Ugboaja, who is also a registered nurse at South Texas Health System, said she begged officers to let her continue to Mass and receive Holy Communion, but was told she needed to go with them. The detention happened on June 28, 2026, and the detail that agents took her rosary intensified the reaction from Catholics and immigration advocates who saw the arrest as more than a routine encounter.

Her case quickly spread beyond McAllen because it captured a tension that runs through Texas and national immigration politics: how enforcement reaches people who are living everyday lives in their neighborhoods, workplaces and churches. Ugboaja has said many others are in similar situations, facing enforcement actions, legal uncertainty or paperwork problems that leave them vulnerable even when they are simply trying to get through the day.

The public response was swift. Social media filled with outcry, and later coverage said bipartisan calls for her release followed as her detention became a flashpoint for debates over due process, local cooperation with federal authorities and the treatment of long-settled residents. For church communities, the image of a nun being arrested on the way to Mass sharpened fears that places of worship and the people connected to them are not insulated from immigration sweeps.

Ugboaja has used her experience to push a broader message: people caught in the immigration system deserve a chance to be heard before they are taken into custody. Her detention, and the attention it drew, underscored how a single ICE stop in McAllen can become a national symbol of the human costs of enforcement.