ICE Confiscated a Roman Catholic Nun's Rosary — DHS Still Won't Say Why

Secretary Markwayne Mullin did not immediately reply to our request for comment on the targeting of Sister Leticia “Letty” Ugboaja, 56, of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy, in McAllen.

Sister Letty. (SBG San Antonio)

WASHINGTON — Sister Letty’s rosary is still in an ICE evidence bag somewhere. Nobody at the Department of Homeland Security will say where, or why agents took it off her in the first place.

Three days after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stopped Sister Leticia “Letty” Ugboaja steps from Our Lady of Sorrows Church in McAllen, Texas — handcuffed her, confiscated her rosary, and drove her toward a detention facility an hour up the road — the agency that ordered it has offered exactly zero words of public explanation. Migrant Insider texted DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin directly Monday for an update on the Sister Letty situation. He has not replied. This story will update if and when he does.

What ICE Won’t Explain

Sister Letty, 56, is a member of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy who has worked as a registered nurse in the McAllen area for roughly a decade. She was on her way to Sunday Mass, in her habit, when agents stopped her near the church, cuffed her and took her rosary. She was held for hours — moved, she told fellow sisters, toward the El Valle Detention Facility in Raymondville — before being released Sunday night.

Diocesan officials have confirmed only that she entered the country legally. They have not said what triggered the stop, and neither has ICE. The diocese has already said, on the record, that whatever protocol let agents cuff a nun walking to church needs to be rewritten.

Bipartisan Pressure, No Answers

It took two members of Congress from opposite parties — Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas — working DHS in real time to get her released ahead of schedule. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, has since said publicly that immigration sweeps have drifted a long way from the “dangerous criminals” the administration promised to target, landing instead on a nun heading to Mass.

None of that pressure has produced an on-the-record explanation. DHS did not respond to detailed questions from the Texas Tribune about the legal basis for the stop. It has not responded to Migrant Insider either.

The Catholic Charities Backdrop

Sister Norma Pimentel, who runs Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, said ICE didn’t return her calls while Sister Letty was in custody. That silence lands against a tenser backdrop: DHS recently suspended federal funding to Pimentel’s organization over alleged grant-compliance issues, straining a relationship between the agency and the Catholic infrastructure that has quietly absorbed much of the humanitarian load at the border for years.

Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville said he’s grateful she’s home. He also said the questions aren’t close to answered. Frankly, we agree. Please share any updates you come across about Sister Letty in our Substack Chat or email us at tips@migrantsinsider.com.

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