By RUSS BYNUM
U.S. immigration authorities mentioned Wednesday they’ve detained a Spanish-language journalist, who will face deportation proceedings following his arrest on fees of obstructing police and illegal meeting whereas masking a weekend protest outdoors Atlanta.
Guevara fled El Salvador 20 years in the past and constructed a big following as an impartial journalist masking immigration within the Atlanta space. He was livestreaming video on social media Saturday from a DeKalb County rally protesting President Donald Trump’s administration when native police arrested him.
“I’m a member of the media, officer,” Guevara tells a police officer proper earlier than he’s arrested. The video reveals Guevara carrying a shiny purple shirt beneath a protecting vest with “PRESS” printed throughout his chest.
Police inform Spanish-language reporter Mario Guevara to maneuver again throughout a protest on ICE raids and deportation arrests on Chamblee Tucker Street in Atlanta on Saturday, June 14, 2025. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Structure through AP)
DeKalb County officers have mentioned a minimum of eight folks have been arrested throughout the Saturday demonstration, with police utilizing tear gasoline to show away protesters marching towards an interstate onramp. Guevara’s video reveals him standing on a sidewalk with different journalists, with no signal of huge crowds or confrontations round him, proper earlier than he’s arrested.
Jail data present Guevara was charged with obstructing police, illegal meeting and improperly coming into a roadway.
The Committee to Defend 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, mentioned in a press release.
Giovanni Diaz, middle, alongside Zacharias Gaeta and Katherine Guevara, speaks throughout a press convention concerning the standing of Mario Guevara, a metro Atlanta-based Spanish-language reporter from MGNews, addressing his scenario following his arrest whereas masking an immigration rally, Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Smyrna, Ga. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Structure through AP)
An immigration decide in 2012 denied Guevara’s utility for asylum and ordered him and his household to go away the nation. Nonetheless, ICE labored with Guevara’s lawyer to shut his case with out deporting anybody. Diaz mentioned it was resolved with Guevara receiving authorization to proceed working within the U.S.
Diaz has mentioned Guevara has a powerful case to stay within the U.S., although the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown has left the journalist’s household fearful.
Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia.
Initially Printed: June 18, 2025 at 6:04 PM EDT
