Church maintenance worker deported to Mexico after ICE arrest
Dec 4, 2025·Location: Hopkins, MN
Country of origin: Mexico

Francisco Paredes, a 46-year-old maintenance worker at St. Gabriel Catholic Church in Hopkins, Minnesota, was arrested by ICE on December 4, 2025, and deported to Mexico after living in the U.S. for 25 years. Paredes was detained for approximately one month in multiple facilities, including a Bloomington immigration office holding cell with 40 people, Crow Wing County Jail in Brainerd, and Webb County Detention Center in Texas, where he reported sleeping on floors without blankets and receiving minimal food. He spent Christmas imprisoned and was denied phone contact for several days after his arrest. Five weeks later, ICE agents surveilled St. Gabriel's Church during a Spanish-language Mass on January 4, 2026, which church leadership and local officials said violated parishioners' constitutional right to free exercise of religion. Francisco Paredes, a maintenance worker at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church in Hopkins, was detained by ICE agents in December 2024 after picking up coffee on his way to work. Paredes had lived in the U.S. for 25 years. He was transported to a processing facility following his detention.
Sources
- UPDATE: ICE deported Minnesota church employee, surveilled parish during Mass, mayor says
ewtnnews.com·Jan 9, 2026·archived copy
- ICE Deported Minnesota Church Employee, Surveilled Parish During Mass
maryknollmagazine.org·Jan 13, 2026·archived copy
- National & World Archives - The Catholic Telegraph
- ICE Presence at Minnesota Parish Sparks Fear, Raises Concerns Over Religious Freedom – Catholic Online News
- Hopkins family detained by ICE returned to Minnesota
- Hopkins family spent weekend in Texas ICE detention facility now ‘recovering’ at home
mprnews.org·Jan 27, 2026·archived copy
- Hopkins family from Ecuador detained; judge orders feds not to move them
- Judge orders ICE to keep Hopkins family in Minnesota
mprnews.org·Jan 23, 2026·archived copy
- ICE arrest during recent enforcement surge disrupts lives of Hopkins family of 4
mprnews.org·Jan 9, 2026·archived copy
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