McALLEN, Texas– A nun who was detained in immigration custody after being arrested while walking to Mass in her habit last month in Texas pleaded Thursday for people to have a chance to be heard before they are detained, saying she was speaking out to help others.

“There are many other people in this same situation, people who have been given some kind of protection under our laws, who have followed all the rules that were asked of them and who are still living with uncertainty,” Sister Leticia Ugboaja of Nigeria said at a news conference.

Ugboaja was released several hours after being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on June 28 while walking to Our Lady of Sorrows Church in McAllen, just a few miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.

Parish officials posting on social media drew attention to Ugboaja’s arrest, and members of Congress eventually intervened on the nun’s behalf.

His lawyer, Carlos Garcia, said Thursday that in 2019 an immigration judge denied his asylum request but also granted him protection from deportation because he was likely to face torture in Nigeria. García said Ugboaja complied with everything that was required of him and had permission to work in the United States.

When ICE detained Ugboaja in June, they didn’t give her much of an explanation for why she was detained, but they did say that the United States was planning to deport her to a third country, García said.

Lawyers and human rights groups have criticized the Trump administration’s third-country deportation policy, which has faced legal challenges.

The Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Ugboaja’s case on Thursday and did not respond to requests for comment after his arrest in June.

Ugboaja has an ICE appearance scheduled for next week, his attorney said.

Ugboaja is part of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy and offered herself as Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Brownsville said. Ugboaja is also a registered nurse with South Texas Health System and previously worked for 10 years as a certified nursing assistant in Edinburg, the spokesperson said.

President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, even at sensitive sites like houses of worship, has led religious leaders to adjust their response to church members who are too afraid to attend. Some have encouraged online assistance, while others have offered help with errands, such as shopping, to people who are too afraid to leave the house.

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Associated Press writer Jamie Stengle contributed to this report.