NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez this morning held a vigil with Newark Archbishop Joseph Cardinal Tobin and local clergy in support of an undocumented Union City, N.J. grandfather facing deportation under President Trump’s executive order. Catalino Guerrero was later released to his family after having been ordered to turn himself in to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Newark.

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“I was pleased to receive the news that ICE decided not to detain Mr. Catalino Guerrero and accept his application for a stay of removal. After weeks of listening to heart wrenching reports of ICE raids and detentions of mothers, victims of domestic violence and DACA recipients, I am glad Catalino can go home and be with his family today,” said Sen. Menendez after Mr. Guerrero’s exited the federal building.

Mr. Guerrero has lived peacefully in the U.S., owning a home, paying taxes and raising a family without a criminal record for 25 years. ICE decided not to detain him and accept his application for a stay of removal.

“But Mr. Guerrero’s case is not over and this peace of mind is only temporary until his next ICE appointment in May,” Sen. Menendez continued. “I urge ICE to give full consideration to his request for a stay of removal, so this New Jersey family can live in peace. ICE should focus its resources on detaining and deporting hardened criminals not loving grandpas. I will continue to monitor Mr. Guerrero’s case and continue the fight to fix our broken immigration system, so that people like Mr. Guerrero can find a pathway to citizenship and ICE can focus on the real “bad hombres.”

Sen. Menendez called Mr. Guerrero’s case a seminal moment that highlights the urgency for comprehensive immigration reform.

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