From EWTN:
In the most recent development in an immigration case that has gained national attention, Sister Leticia Ugboaja, the Nigerian Catholic nun and nurse who was briefly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in south Texas in June, was informed today that third-country removal was not off the table, which her attorney called “very concerning.”
After a July 28 check-in with ICE officials in Harlingen, Texas, Carlos M. Garcia, Ugboaja’s lawyer, told reporters gathered outside the ICE field office 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.”
Garcia said he and his client have not yet decided on a specific legal path.
At a July 23 press conference, he 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 discussed last week. The nun has another check-in scheduled for Jan. 28, 2027.
“We’re happy that she’s continuing to be able to live her life the way she’s been living it, which is a life of service to the community and to her church family,” Garcia said.