When Donald Trump tells you that he is targeting only “bad hombres” for deportation, he is lying to you. Dreamers, U.S. Army veterans, and moms have been rounded up by his Deportation Force, in some instances ripped away from their homes in the dead of night. Trump’s executive order puts just about any undocumented immigrant at risk of deportation—including “bad hombres” like Catalino Guerrero, a diabetic grandfather who has no criminal record and has lived in the US for 25 years.
Earlier today Catalino, accompanied by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), New Jersey Archbishop Cardinal Joseph Tobin, dozens of other supporters and a swarm of media, went to his closed-door check-in with ICE to find out his fate.
While Catalino had been previously ordered for deportation by the Obama administration, they had “repeatedly granted him reprieves because he was so clearly not a threat,” notes the New Jersey Star-Ledger editorial board. But with recent stories like that of Guadalupe Garcia—an Arizona mom of two US citizens who was arrested and deported following her first ICE check-in under the Trump regime—Catalino and his advocates also had reason to fear the worst.
The news this morning was good for Catalino and his family, but in no way is he in the clear just yet:
A man who entered the U.S. illegally in 1991 has received a 60-day extension to seek a stay of deportation after gaining the support of dozens of clergy and a U.S. senator.
Catalino Guerrero was seeking a year stay of removal from immigration officials on Friday, but received 60 days.
Guerrero's supporters say the 59-year-old has worked and paid taxes and has no criminal record. He was told at a routine check-in with immigration officials last month to return Friday and bring his passport.
Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Archbishop of Newark, says Guerrero "puts a face" to what is often treated as "statistics, or demons."
Catalino’s reprieve is a temporary victory, but it is just that—temporary. His life in the country he’s called his home for nearly three decades will remain in limbo until his next immigration check-in, with ICE perhaps hoping that the outpouring of support for him will not be as big the next time around. After all, Catalino’s case not only attracted the support of a sitting U.S. senator, but an archbishop who took on then-Governor Mike Pence following his order to ban Syrian refugees from his state in 2015.
Sen. Menendez indicated he’ll again be in Catalino’s corner the next time around, saying in a statement that he’ll “continue to monitor Mr. Guerrero’s case.” And Cardinal Tobin—a longtime friend of Pope Francis—has a history of allying himself with issues of social and racial justice rather than choosing to demonize immigrants, LGBTQ people, and other vulnerable groups. Perhaps other cardinals should take the hint for Catalino’s next check-in, follow Cardinal Tobin’s lead, and do their part to protect the kind of people who help make America great.