Carinal Tobin leads effort to help man facing deportation

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.