Prayer key to sister’s release from ICE detention, but foreign-born religious now on edge

(OSV News) — A woman religious in McAllen, Texas, told OSV News the “power of prayer” was key to the release of a religious sister detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as she walked to Sunday Mass — but foreign-born religious in the area are now on their guard after the incident.

Sister Leticia Ugboaja, a member of the Nigerian-based Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy, was apprehended and held by ICE agents for several hours June 28.

Known as “Sister Letty,” she had been walking from her residence to Our Lady of Sorrows Church in McAllen, where she serves as an extraordinary minister of holy Communion.

According to the Diocese of Brownsville, Sister Leticia also works as a registered nurse at a McAllen-based medical center that is part of South Texas Health System. She had previously spent 10 years as a certified nursing assistant at DHR Health in Edinburg, Texas.

Upon news of the sister’s detention, “we were all praying,” Sister Rose Patrice Kuhn told OSV News. The Immaculate Heart of Mary sister provides pastoral accompaniment to migrants in the McAllen-Reynosa, Mexico, border area.

Sister Rose said she and her community members throughout the U.S. rallied their prayers for Sister Leticia’s release, which saw the intervention of lawmakers, including Republican Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz, of Texas’ 15th Congressional District, who announced she spoke directly with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin about the matter.

Those prayers included pleas to “touch the hearts” of all those involved in Sister Leticia’s detention, said Sister Rose, who spoke with the sister at some length following her release.

The Diocese of Brownsville advised OSV News that Sister Leticia was not available for an interview on advice of her legal counsel, and Sister Rose, citing the same reason, also declined to provide specific details regarding Sister Leticia’s hours in immigration detention.

However, Sister Rose said that “many” Our Lady of Sorrows parishioners were “crying and praying” outside Sister Leticia’s home as they waited for her release.

“She said to me, ‘I never knew I was so loved,'” Sister Rose recalled, her voice filled with emotion.

Sister Rose explained that she and fellow religious from various orders serving in the Rio Grande Valley are “connected to one another” and joined as one amid Sister Letitia’s detention.

While they rejoiced to see their fellow religious released, “just imagine how it affects the other sisters,” said Sister Rose. “There are many here who are not from the United States originally. There are a good number who are here on different kinds of visas, and who have been here for years, working with the parishes and with migrants and immigrants. Just imagine the extra fear that’s being put into them.”

Sister Rose said, “Even though they have (immigration) documents, they’re thinking, ‘Are they (immigration officials) going to look up my name?'”

She pointed to the Trump administration’s mass deportation policy — the impact of which she sees almost daily as she attends immigration court hearings.

Recently, said Sister Rose, “there were so many” immigration hearing appointments that court officials “would not allow anybody else in, because there was no room. They are putting so many of the people in the same (immigration) situation together so they can deport more people, faster.”

And following Sister Leticia’s detention, the border area’s foreign-born religious are now “cautious,” said Sister Rose. “I’ve heard from a couple of sisters, and it’s really affecting them.”

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