Menendez, Booker React to ICE Decision Allowing NJ Grandfather to Stay in U.S. for Additional Year

NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker (both D-N.J.) released the following statement after the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Field Office in Newark approved Union City, N.J. grandfather Catalino Guerrero’s stay of removal application.  Mr. Guerrero, a New Jersey grandfather facing deportation under President Trump’s new aggressive immigration policies, will now be allowed to stay in the U.S. for another year.

The senators became directly involved in the effort to prevent the deportation of their constituent in March, making the case to ICE to fully consider the circumstances of Mr. Guerrero’s application and holding a rally with local clergy, family and advocates.

“I am very relieved to see Catalino has been granted an opportunity to pursue every legal avenue to stay where he belongs: In his adoptive country, in his home and with his family here in New Jersey,” said Sen. Menendez, who personally called Mr. Guerrero to give him the good news.  “I was very proud to see how New Jerseyans rallied behind Catalino and his family, using our collective power to reject a mass deportation agenda and show we are a community that stands united for justice, fairness, and common sense.  As the dynamics of immigration change radically under the Trump Administration, stories like Catalino’s remind us why exercising prosecutorial discretion on a case-by case basis to refine deportation priorities, and defer deportations for those who do not pose a public safety risk are more important than ever.”

“I am pleased that Catalino will continue to have the opportunity to live the American Dream and provide a better life for himself and his family right here in New Jersey, just as he has for the past twenty-five years,” said Sen. Booker.  “The immigration policies proposed by the Trump Administration stand in stark contrast to some of our most fundamental American values and callously target New Jerseyans, like Catalino, who not only pose no threat to public safety, but contribute so much to what makes our state and nation strong. Catalino’s case reinforces the urgent need for us to stand united in seeking common sense solutions to our broken immigration system that are consistent with our core American principles.”

Mr. Guerrero has lived peacefully and without a criminal record in the U.S. for 25 years, owning a home in Union City, N.J., paying taxes and raising a family.

Last month, Sen. Menendez and Newark Archbishop Joseph Cardinal Tobin hosted a vigil for the Guerrero family with local clergy and supporters outside the Newark ICE office before Mr. Guerrero was due to report.  Sens. Booker and Menendez later sent a letter to ICE in support of Mr. Guerrero’s case.