MPR News reported yesterday (Friday),
Nicaragua man deported to Africa awaits return to Minnesota, amid legal battle.
You will recall this case,
A Nicaraguan asylum seeker who was living in Minnesota is fighting his deportation — which landed him across the world in the Central African Republic.
Federal judge Jeffrey Bryan ordered Kenis Lopez Gonzalez brought back home and released from detention last week, but U.S. attorneys are asking the court to delay that order.
MPR News spoke via telephone with Lopez from his new home earlier in the week. He would like to return to Shakopee, MN, where he had been living since illegally entering America in 2022. He has no legal authorization to re-enter the United States or to remain there.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Dept. of Justice filed an appeal (File No. 26-3276) with the 8th Circuit of Judge Bryan’s order (local File No. 26-cv-4507). The initial brief in the case is due on Christmas Eve.
If he chose, Lopez could return to his native Nicaragua, but he would prefer not to.
In an unrelated case, a DOJ appeal in a habeas corpus petition granted by a Minnesota district judge has been scheduled for oral argument on November 17.