In 60 seconds: A federal judge in St. Paul has ordered the government to bring back Kenis Adalberto Lopez Gonzalez, a 44-year-old Shakopee man deported to the Central African Republic in August despite having no ties to the country. The order also bars agents from using rubber bullets or any other projectiles on him.
- U.S. District Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan ordered DHS and ICE to arrange Lopez's return "as soon as practicable."
- Lopez, a Nicaraguan construction worker with no U.S. criminal record, was detained in January 2026 and deported to Central Africa in August.
- A 2024 immigration judge had already ruled Lopez could not be sent back to Nicaragua over credible fears of torture.
- The order bars projectiles against Lopez and says he must not be removed from Minnesota while the case is pending.
- The Supreme Court hears arguments on third-country deportations in December 2026.
Imagine getting picked up on your way to work, held for months, then forced onto a plane to a country you've never seen. That's what happened to Kenis Lopez Gonzalez — until a St. Paul federal judge ordered him brought back Friday.
The Warren E. Burger Federal Building in St. Paul, Minnesota, home to the U.S. District Court that ordered Lopez's return. Photo: Chad Davis, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What happened
Lopez, 44, has lived in Shakopee, Minnesota, since 2022. He turned himself in to immigration authorities after fleeing political persecution in Nicaragua, and he's worked in construction ever since.
In August 2024, an immigration judge ruled Lopez could not be deported to Nicaragua because of credible fears he would face torture there.
In January 2026, ICE agents detained Lopez on his way to work during Operation Metro Surge, the large Minnesota enforcement operation. He has no U.S. criminal record, and he has said an agent told him his paperwork was fraudulent.
Then came August. Instead of Nicaragua, Lopez was put on a plane to the Central African Republic under a "third country" deportation — a country he had never visited and has no ties to. He's been held at a detention center there ever since.
According to the Minnesota Reformer, the removal itself was forceful: agents used projectiles — rubber bullets or pepper balls — to force Lopez and others off a bus, wrapped him in a full-body restraint, and carried him onto the aircraft.
Latest verified facts
On Friday, October 30, 2026, supporters rallied outside the federal courthouse in St. Paul while Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan heard the case. By Friday evening, Lopez's attorney told WCCO the judge had granted his return.
The order tells the Department of Homeland Security and ICE to "arrange for and facilitate Lopez's return to the United States from the Central African Republic by taking all reasonable steps within their control to do so." It also says Lopez must be returned to the District of Minnesota and must not be removed from the District while the case is pending.
And it goes further: the order prohibits the government from shooting Lopez with rubber bullets or any other projectiles at close range or otherwise — a direct answer to how he was removed.
His attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, put it bluntly: "ICE violated Mr. Lopez's constitutional rights, and hardly even denied it." He said Lopez will now finally get his day in court.
Why it matters
Lopez is not an isolated case: the Minnesota Reformer reports he is among more than 25,000 people deported to countries that are not their home since President Donald Trump took office in 2025, and the Central African Republic is one of more than 30 countries with U.S. third-country agreements.
That raises the question at the heart of the case: can the government send someone to a country they have no connection to, after a judge already ruled they face torture at home? Lopez's attorney says no — and Judge Bryan's order is the strongest judicial pushback yet in Minnesota.
It's the latest courtroom check on immigration enforcement this fall, after a Houston grand jury indicted an ICE agent over a vehicle assault — Houston Grand Jury Indicts ICE Agent — and another judge barred the Justice Department from threatening election workers — Judge Bars DOJ From Threatening Election Workers.
Impact on the USA and the world
For Americans, the case cuts to a basic due-process question: Lopez had a judge's protection order from 2024, yet he was still deported — just not to the country the order covered.
Internationally, the case spotlights the third-country pipeline: agreements that let the U.S. send deportees to nations with no connection to them. A federal judge ordering one reversed tests whether that pipeline is as solid as the administration has presented it.
Another view of the St. Paul federal building where the Lopez hearing took place. Photo: Chad Davis, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What happens next
Our take: Watch three things. First, speed: the order says "as soon as practicable," but pulling a man out of a detention center in the Central African Republic involves diplomacy as well as logistics, so the timeline is genuinely uncertain. Second, the government's response: it can comply, or it can ask a higher court to pause the order while it appeals. Third, December: that's when the Supreme Court hears arguments on the legality of third-country deportations as a whole.
If the justices bless the program, Lopez's return could prove short-lived. If they curb it, his case could become a template for others among those 25,000-plus deportees. Either way, a Minnesota construction worker who was supposed to disappear into a Central African detention center is now, by court order, coming home.
Sources: Minnesota Reformer, CBS News Minnesota (WCCO), Newsweek, Bring Me The News.