ICE takes custody of Spanish-language journalist arrested at Georgia
protest
[June 19, 2025]
By RUSS BYNUM
U.S. immigration authorities said Wednesday they have detained a
Spanish-language journalist, who will face deportation proceedings
following his arrest on charges of obstructing police and unlawful
assembly while covering a weekend protest outside Atlanta.
Mario Guevara was turned over by police to U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement custody three days after he was jailed in DeKalb County,
agency spokesman Lindsay Williams said in an emailed statement. His case
now goes to immigration court to determine whether Guevara, a native of
El Salvador, can remain in the U.S.
His attorney, Giovanni Diaz, has said that Guevara was doing his job and
committed no crime when police arrested him. He also says Guevara has
legal authorization to live and work in the U.S., and has a pending
application for permanent residency. Diaz did not immediately return
phone and email messages Wednesday.
Guevara fled El Salvador two decades ago and built a large following as
an independent journalist covering immigration in the Atlanta area. He
was livestreaming video on social media Saturday from a DeKalb County
rally protesting President Donald Trump's administration when local
police arrested him.
“I’m a member of the media, officer,” Guevara tells a police officer
right before he’s arrested. The video shows Guevara wearing a bright red
shirt under a protective vest with “PRESS” printed across his chest.
DeKalb County officials have said at least eight people were arrested
during the Saturday demonstration, with police using tear gas to turn
away protesters marching toward an interstate onramp. Guevara's video
shows him standing on a sidewalk with other journalists, with no sign of
big crowds or confrontations around him, right before he's arrested.
Jail records show Guevara was charged with obstructing police, unlawful
assembly and improperly entering a roadway.
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned Guevara's arrest and
detention by ICE.
“His ongoing detention signals a frightening erosion of press freedom in
the U.S.,” Katherine Jacobsen, the group's U.S. program coordinator,
said in a statement.
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Mario Guevara, the metro Atlanta-based Spanish-language reporter,
covers a protest against immigration enforcement on Buford Highway,
in Georgia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta
Journal-Constitution via AP)
ICE's statement did not say why Guevara was being detained or where
he would be held. Williams did not immediately respond to an email
message asking those questions.
Guevara fled El Salvador with his family in 2004, saying he was
beaten and repeatedly harassed because of his work as a political
reporter for the newspaper La Prensa Grafica. They immigrated to
Georgia, where Guevara worked as a reporter for Georgia’s largest
Spanish-language newspaper, Mundo Hispanico, before launching his
own online news site, MGNews.
An immigration judge in 2012 denied Guevara's application for asylum
and ordered him and his family to leave the country. However, ICE
worked with Guevara's lawyer to close his case without deporting
anyone. Diaz said it was resolved with Guevara receiving
authorization to continue working in the U.S.
Diaz has said Guevara has a strong case to remain in the U.S.,
though the Trump administration's aggressive immigration crackdown
has left the journalist's family worried.
“Under this administration, we don’t know what that means for us,"
Guevara's adult daughter, Katherine Guevara, said during a Tuesday
news conference. "Temporary legal status may not mean anything.”
___
Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia.
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