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.
Tag Archives: Atlanta
Daily Beast: ICE Pushes to Deport Reporter Arrested at ‘No Kings’ Rally
Attorneys for Mario Guevara, a reporter who live-streamed his own arrest Saturday, say he was detained simply for covering the protest.
An Emmy Award-winning reporter who recorded his own arrest while covering a “No Kings” protest in metro Atlanta now faces possible deportation.
Mario Guevara, a Spanish-language journalist known for his coverage of immigration raids, was live-streaming the anti-Trump rally Saturday when tensions between officers in riot gear and marchers escalated, Fox 5 reported.
Wearing a helmet and a press-labeled vest, Guevara was filming a group of officers in a parking lot when they began moving towards him. Despite identifying himself as a journalist, he was arrested.
…
Guevara’s attorneys have condemned the arrest—arguing he was detained simply for documenting the protest, according to Fox 5.
On Monday, attorneys successfully petitioned for bond, only to learn that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had lodged a “detainer” against Guevara, blocking his release for 48 hours so ICE officers can take him into custody.
The detainer means the federal government believes Guevara, who is originally from El Salvador, can be deported. Attorney Giovanni Diaz said that while Guevara lacks permanent legal status, he has work authorization and is pursuing a green card through his U.S. citizen son.
Guardian: Spanish-language journalist to be turned over to Ice after protest arrest
El Salvador-born Mario Guevara, arrested by Georgia police on Saturday, transferred to Ice officers after bond release
Mario Guevara, a prominent Spanish-language journalist in metro Atlanta who frequently covers Immigration and customs enforcement raids, will be turned over to Ice detention after being arrested by local police while covering the “No Kings” protests.
Guevara, 47, was born in El Salvador and has been in the United States for more than 20 years. He recorded his own arrest Saturday during a raucous street protest in the Embry Hills area of north DeKalb county, an Atlanta suburban neighborhood with a large Latino population. The protest ended with riot police throwing teargas and marching protesters down the street after declaring an unlawful assembly.
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Police charged Guevara as a pedestrian improperly entering a roadway, obstruction of a law enforcement officer and unlawful assembly. A municipal judge released Guevara on Monday on a recognisance bond – customary with misdemeanor charges. But jail staff said he would be transferred instead to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
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Ted Terry, a DeKalb county commissioner, asked the county’s staff to investigate the circumstances around the use of teargas at the event.
“The decision to deploy teargas – particularly in a neighborhood context with nearby homes and businesses – raises serious questions about the proportionality and justification of the county’s response to peaceful civil action,” he wrote.
A spokesperson for Ice in Atlanta could not immediately confirm the conditions of the immigration hold or whether Guevara faces deportation.
As a journalist with Diario CoLatino in El Salvador, he fled the country in 2004 one step ahead of threats from leftwing paramilitary groups. It took him seven years to get his first asylum hearing before a judge, the journalist told Spanish-language wire service Agencia EFE in the Los Angeles-based publication La Opinión in 2012. He described the arrest of his wife after an error in the immigration system. “The hardest part for me was seeing my three children cry as she was taken away, and me being powerless to give them the comfort and protection they need,” he said in Spanish in the interview.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/16/journalist-ice-protest-arrest-mario-guevara
Latin Times: Mexico Confronts ICE Over Denied Access After Death of Detained Mexican Citizen in Georgia
Jesús Molina-Veya was discovered unresponsive in his cell [with a ligature around his neck] on June 7 and died shortly after being taken to a local hospital
Mexico is pursuing legal options after a Mexican citizen died earlier this month while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody at the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia. According to Mexican media reports, ICE is now preventing officials from the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta from entering the facility to speak with other detainees.
On June 7, 45-year-old Jesús Molina-Veya was found unconscious in his cell with a ligature around his neck, according to ICE. Despite CPR efforts, medical staff transferred him to Phoebe Sumter Hospital in Americus, where he was pronounced dead later that evening.
As the investigation into his death continues, Proceso reports that Mexico’s Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) has raised concerns that consular staff were “not notified for interviews” during recent visits to the ICE facility and has requested an explanation from officials at the detention center.
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Molina-Veya’s death marks the second time a Mexican national has died while in ICE custody at the Stewart Detention Center, a facility that has recently come under scrutiny for poor living conditions, reports of abuse and allegations of medical negligence.
Just last month, another Mexican national, Abelardo Avellaneda-Delgado, died while being transferred to the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin.
And more generally:
According to ICE’s detainee death reporting data, Molina-Veya is the eighth person to die in ICE custody so far in 2025. The number of deaths reported in the first six months of this year represents 72% of all ICE custody deaths reported in 2024, raising alarm among immigrant rights advocates.

Latin Times: Mexico Confronts ICE Over Denied Access After Death of Detained Mexican Citizen in Georgia
Jesús Molina-Veya was discovered unresponsive in his cell on June 7 and died shortly after being taken to a local hospital
Mexico is pursuing legal options after a Mexican citizen died earlier this month while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody at the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia. According to Mexican media reports, ICE is now preventing officials from the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta from entering the facility to speak with other detainees.
On June 7, 45-year-old Jesús Molina-Veya was found unconscious in his cell with a ligature around his neck, according to ICE. Despite CPR efforts, medical staff transferred him to Phoebe Sumter Hospital in Americus, where he was pronounced dead later that evening.
As the investigation into his death continues, Proceso reports that Mexico’s Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) has raised concerns that consular staff were “not notified for interviews” during recent visits to the ICE facility and has requested an explanation from officials at the detention center.
….

NBC News: As immigration raids continue, ICE protests spread coast to coast
Activists plan more events Tuesday in New York, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta. A curfew was imposed across downtown L.A. until 6 a.m.
Activists had also gathered in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta and elsewhere, rebuking the Trump administration’s tough stance against migrants and its aggressive round-up efforts, which Democratic leaders in California have criticized as contributing to a sense of fear across communities.
NBC News has counted at least 25 rallies and demonstrations coast to coast since Monday. Some involved only a few dozen people, while others attracted thousands.
The protests took place as federal immigration raids continued nationwide Tuesday, including a “targeted enforcement operation” in Los Angeles, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as a raid at a meat processing facility in Omaha, Nebraska.
Daily Mail: ICE prepares full assault on five Democrat cities as LA goes into lockdown amid immigration riots
Donald Trump is set to deploy ICE tactical units to five Democrat-run cities amid the riots in Los Angeles as Gavin Newsom nearly broke into tears while blaming his administration for inciting the California chaos.
The military-style units are set to storm New York City, Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia and northern Virginia, MSNBC reported. Four of those five are heavily blue cities, while northern Virginia contains the Democrat enclave of Alexandria.
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‘Look, this isn’t just about protests here in Los Angeles, when Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard. He made that order apply to every state in this nation,’ Newsom said, as he teared up.
‘This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes, this moment we have feared has arrived.’
Newsom accused Trump of ‘taking a wrecking ball to our founding fathers’ historic project’ of three co-equal branches of government.
Mirror: LA immigration protests LIVE: Mass protests spread to new cities, with tear gas thrown in Dallas
The President sent another 2,000 National Guard troops to confront immigration protesters in LA, as the demonstrations spread to other US cities
- Pro-Trump protester tells a Black woman to “Listen to you overseers” after she confronted him for antagonizing demonstrators 19:18
- At least 700 Marines deployed to LA to help with protest mitigation and protection23:13
- Donald Trump says LA nearly ‘completely obliterated’ without National Guard as feud with Newsom escalates18:06
- California sues Donald Trump for deploying National Guard as feud between Trump and Newsom explodes17:01
- Gavin Newsom gives scathing nine-word verdict on Donald Trump’s mental state16:52
President Donald Trump has defended his decision to send another 2,000 National Guard troops to confront immigration protesters in Los Angeles, as the demonstrations spread to other US cities.
The protests began Friday in downtown LA after federal immigration authorities arrested more than 40 people across the city. Trump on Monday authorized the deployment of 700 Marines and additional National Guard troops to LA as the protests entered a fourth day. It came after an initial 300 troops arrived in the city on Sunday.
The demonstrations spread to other cities including Boston, Houston and Philadelphia on Monday. In Dallas, hundreds of protesters gathered for a rally which police declared was “unlawful.” Authorities said one person was arrested.

https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/la-immigration-protests-live-flash-1195445
NBC News: ICE protests held coast to coast as national movement grows after L.A. unrest
Activists plan more events Tuesday in New York, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta.
The protests that have roiled Los Angeles seem to be spreading across the country, as activists gathered Tuesday in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta and elsewhere.
Rallies protesting ICE raids and the government’s immigration policies have been planned across California and beyond this week. A series of so-called No Kings demonstrations is planned nationwide for Saturday.
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Since Monday, NBC News counted at least 25 rallies and demonstrations coast to coast. Some involved only a few dozen participants, while others attracted thousands to make a stand against the detention and removal of suspected undocumented migrants.
Lots more …
- California and the West Coast
- New York and the East Coast
- Texas, the South and the Midwest
Live: LA immigration protests LIVE: Newsom brands Marine deployment to LA Trump’s ‘deranged fantasy’
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state of California is suing Donald Trump over his response to the violent riots in L.A. Tensions exploded between the two over the weekend and into Monday
- At least 700 Marines deployed to LA to help with protest mitigation and protection18:13
- Donald Trump says LA nearly ‘completely obliterated’ without National Guard as feud with Newsom escalates13:06
- California sues Donald Trump for deploying National Guard as feud between Trump and Newsom explodes17:01
- Gavin Newsom gives scathing nine-word verdict on Donald Trump’s mental state16:52
- Dramatic images show full extent of LA chaos amid protests11:24
Americans fear civil war is beginning right before their eyes as L.A. protesters and police clash — and California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state of California is now suing Donald Trump over his response to the violent riots.
California Democrat Adam Schiff also accused Trump of wanting a reason to justify martial law in the region. The president lobbed several attacks against Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass on his Truth Social on Sunday night.
Trump is deploying 2,000 National Guard troops as protesters seek to block federal immigration authorities from carrying out deportations. ed to deploy status” should they be called upon to defend federal facilities and personnel.
The Marines with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division will work with the roughly 2,100 National Guard troops on the ground to protect federal property and personnel, including federal immigration agents, U.S. Northern Command says.
The Marines are moving from their base at Twentynine Palms in the California desert on Monday.
The troops have been trained in de-escalation, crowd control and standing rules for the use of force, and they will be armed with the weapons they normally carry.
Kent State Reprise is just around the corner.

https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/la-immigration-protests-live-flash-1195445
