Religious leader heads effort to help man facing deportation

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Catalino Guerrero, right, hugs his granddaughter Elizabeth Perez, 7, inside Grace Episcopal Church were supporters of Guerrero gathered after his immigration hearing, Friday, March 10, 2017, in Newark, N.J. Guerrero, who arrived in the U.S. illegally in 1991, was granted a 60-day extension to seek a stay of deportation. Religious organizers claim he is an upstanding citizen and should not be deported. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

By DAVID PORTER
Posted: Mar. 10, 2017 8:00 am
Updated: Mar. 10, 2017 7:43 pm

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The leader of the state's largest Roman Catholic archdiocese bowed his head and prayed with a man who entered the U.S. illegally decades ago before the man walked into a federal building to face possible deportation, a high-profile example of how religious leaders are responding to recent immigration enforcement actions under Republican President Donald Trump.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the head of the Newark archdiocese, led a rally Friday to support Catalino Guerrero, portraying him as embodying the human cost of a broken immigration policy. Guerrero, whose immigration issues began before Trump took office this year, was given a 60-day extension to seek a stay of deportation.

Guerrero, who's from Union City and has four children and four grandchildren, "puts a face" to what is often treated as "statistics or demons," Tobin said before the hearing.

"You can see what Catalino looks like, and you've heard how he has lived," Tobin said. "We're now going to ask the officials determining his fate to not only see his face but ours as well."

http://www.njherald.com/article/20170310/AP/303109835