At virtual press conference, advocates call on federal government to comply with court ruling as administration seeks to block order returning Kenis López González to Minnesota
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 6, 2026
Media Contact: The TASC Group and Jac Kovarik
Email: workerscircle@thetascgroup.com and jac@ctul.net
Phone: 908-838-6107 (TASC Group) or 414-614-3179 (Jac Kovarik)
Minnesota — The Workers Circle and Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL) held a virtual press conference Friday demanding that the federal government immediately facilitate the return of Minnesota construction worker and business owner Kenis López González from the Central African Republic (C.A.R.), following an October 30 federal court order requiring officials to take steps to bring him back to Minnesota. The Trump administration has since appealed the ruling and requested a stay of the order.
The press conference brought together López González, his legal representative, Yasmany Moreno, and immigration advocates to call for compliance with the court's order, share firsthand accounts of third-country deportations and call for accountability for individuals sent to countries where they have no family or support systems.
“My situation right now here in Africa is very difficult. I'm very scared. My life is at high risk here because currently there are political conflicts. ... Our lives here are in danger in this country of the Central African Republic,” said Kenis López González. “It's very difficult to communicate with our families because of the lack of internet. A friend is lending me his phone. The water goes out constantly. ... All of us who are in this detention center are usually sick to our stomachs. … And aside from the precarious situation we're in, in this center, they treat us badly as if we were criminals.”
López González, a Nicaraguan national who has lived in Minnesota since 2022, was previously granted protection from deportation to Nicaragua due to the risk of torture. According to his attorneys, he was subsequently deported to C.A.R. without an opportunity to challenge his removal to that country, despite having no personal or family ties there.
After losing contact with López González following his deportation, CTUL, of which he is a member, sought assistance from the Workers Circle to locate him. Drawing on relationships established through its ongoing immigration advocacy, the Workers Circle contacted Yasmany Moreno, who was also deported to C.A.R., and helped locate López González in Bangui. Attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg then took up Lopez’s representation. Sandoval-Moshenberg previously represented Kilmar Abrego Garcia and succeeded in bringing him home from El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison earlier this year.
“When the constitutional rights of any one group of people are violated, they undermine the rights of us all. We're here because the U.S. government does not have the right to lock up anyone indefinitely without answering to the court. And anyone means anyone, including immigrants,” said Noelle Damico, Director of Social Justice at the Workers Circle. “Through our freedom vigils across the country, we've built relationships of trust with people who are detained. And their family members, we're documenting human rights abuses, and we're confronting lawmakers with the urgent need to end our government's abductions, detentions, deportations, and disappearances of our neighbors, family members, and friends.”
“We are here today to both celebrate the judge’s ruling that he must come home to Minnesota, and to demand that the federal government comply in good faith and not drag its feet while it appeals. Kenis is a CTUL member, a construction worker and a father. He was taken from us on January 15th, and we have missed him every day since. … Kenis was doing everything ‘the right way’ and still he was taken,” said Lucho Gomez, Director of Campaign Strategy at Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la la Lucha (CTUL). “We at CTUL are very grateful for the Workers Circle for helping us locate Kenis. If it was not for them, I'm not sure we would have been able to locate Kenis, our member.”
“CTUL reached out to us with one picture of Kenis. We sent that to Yasmany, and he went to all six of the detention centers in the Central African Republic until he was able to locate him,” said Arianne Betancourt, Immigrant Rights Organizer at the Workers Circle. “These guys are taking great risks to be able to share with us what is happening.”
On October 30, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan ordered federal immigration officials to take all reasonable steps within their control to facilitate López González's return to Minnesota, including arranging travel and restoring the conditions of his prior immigration supervision. The ruling established specific deadlines and reporting requirements, including a November 6 deadline to submit a request authorizing his return. The court found that López González faced irreparable harm if he remained in the Central African Republic while his legal claims were pending.
The federal government appealed the ruling on November 3 and requested a stay, seeking to suspend implementation of the court's order.
“We are pleased that the government is at least at this first stage complying with the judge's order. … The rubber is going to meet the road when we start talking about actually putting a charter plane in the air to the Central African Republic," said Simon Sandoval Moshenberg, attorney for López González.
The Workers Circle's involvement in López González's case builds on its ongoing efforts to challenge immigration detention and deportation practices. Through 47 weeks of Freedom Vigils and its advocacy surrounding Alligator Alcatraz, the organization has documented human rights abuses reported by detained immigrants, built relationships with impacted individuals and their families, and mobilized communities to demand accountability and due process.
"We don't have food, we don't have electricity, we don't have internet. They mistreat us daily. ... They didn't give any of us opportunities to even tell our families. In my case, my mom suffered a stroke when she found out I was in Africa,” said Yasmany Moreno, small business owner and Cuban national deported to C.A.R. “I've talked to the UN representative in charge of our cases, and she says she cannot do anything. … Return us to the United States because they brought us here without due process … We just want them to respect due process.”
Full video [Passcode: #VU4#e] and transcript of the press conference are available for viewing.
To request interviews with Workers Circle organizers and advocates, contact workerscircle@thetascgroup.com or 908-838-6107. For interviews with López González or his legal representation, contact Jac Kovarik at jac@ctul.net or 414-614-3179.
About the Workers Circle
The Workers Circle is a national, secular Jewish social justice organization founded by Eastern European immigrants who fled pogroms and persecutions to seek democratic freedoms and build “a better and more beautiful world for all” at the turn of the 20th century. That history drives our work for human equality and robust democracy today. Our multigenerational activist community of 250,000+ people powers our strategic, non-partisan campaigns to empower voters, strengthen Constitutional rights, and build a durable, grassroots infrastructure to demand the multiracial democracy we need. Core campaigns of the Workers Circle include freedom vigils, talk to your sheriff, democracy circles, and voter empowerment.
About Centro De Trabajadores Unidos En La Lucha (CTUL)
Centro De Trabajadores Unidos En La Lucha (CTUL) is a worker-led organization where workers organize, educate and empower each other to fight for a voice in their workplaces and in their communities. We partner with other organizations and leaders to build a movement to win racial, gender and economic justice. We identify the root causes of injustice and work to shift the balance of power between those who have it and those who don’t to improve the lives of our communities for present and future generations.