Tag Archives: Mario Guevara

NBC News: Backlash after ICE detains journalist covering ‘No Kings’ immigration protests

Posted on by
Reply

Freedom of the press and civil rights groups are rallying around a journalist who was put in immigration custody after being arrested while covering a protest in Atlanta, warning that his detention could chill press freedoms and put noncitizen journalists at risk.

Mario Guevara, an independent digital journalist who reports in Spanish, has been held for a week after law enforcement officials turned him over to Immigration and Custom Enforcement.

Guevara has authorization to live and work in the U.S., his attorney, Giovanni Diaz, told The Associated Press. Guevara also has an application pending with the Department of Homeland Security for legal permanent residency, sponsored by an adult son who is a U.S. citizen, the attorney said.

…

Guevara was arrested June 14 while livestreaming a “No Kings” protest against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies in the Embry Hills neighborhood near Atlanta.

Backlash after ICE detains journalist covering ‘No Kings’ immigration protests
Press groups are calling for the release of Mario Guevara, an independent journalist who faces deportation after he was arrested and charged with misdemeanors while covering a protest.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/immigration-journalist-faces-deportation-mario-guevara-rcna215032

Latin Times: Latino Journalist Arrested While Covering Immigration Protest Faces Criminal Charges

Posted on by
Reply

Mario Guevara has been charged for filming an ICE operation while driving

A Latino journalist arrested while covering an immigration protest in Georgia now faces criminal charges stemming from a different incident, local media reported.

Concretely, Mario Guevara has been charged with distracted driving, failure to obey a traffic control device and reckless driving, Fox 5 Atlanta noted. The charges are related to filming an ICE operation while driving and running a red light, his lawyer said.

Immigration officials then told the outlet that Guevara has overstayed his visa and was ordered to leave the country by an immigration judge in 2012. His lawyers contend that he is authorized to work in the country. Advocates are planning to hold a demonstration on Saturday demanding his release as his lawyers work to secure a bond hearing.

Guevara, who fled El Salvador almost two decades ago, was arrested last Saturday while streaming during a different protest in DeKalb county. Videos of the incident show that Guevara can be heard telling an agent that he is a journalist before being arrested. He was also wearing a vest with the word press on the chest.

The Associated Press detailed Guevara fled El Salvador along with his family in 2004 after being beat and threatened over his work as a political reported. In the U.S., he worked for the largest Spanish-speaking outlet, Mundo Hispanico, before launching his own outlet, MGNews.

“He’s been doing this kind of work for over 20 years and is being detained now,” said his lawyer, Giovanni Diaz, to the outlet. “It’s concerning. He’s a member of the press and didn’t seem to be committing any felonies,” he added.

Latino Journalist Arrested While Covering Immigration Protest Faces Criminal Charges
Latino journalist Mario Guevara, arrested while covering an immigration protest in Georgia, is now facing criminal charges

https://www.latintimes.com/latino-journalist-arrested-while-covering-immigration-protest-faces-criminal-charges-585342

Associated Press: ICE takes custody of Spanish-language journalist arrested at Georgia protest

Posted on by
Reply

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.

ICE takes custody of Spanish-language journalist arrested at Georgia protest
Immigration officers have taken custody of a Spanish-language journalist arrested on obstruction and unlawful assembly charges while covering a weekend protest outside Atlanta.

https://apnews.com/article/journalist-detained-immigration-ice-mario-guevarra-atlanta-77158055cda30f6be3707fb40bf661d6

Daily Beast: ICE Pushes to Deport Reporter Arrested at ‘No Kings’ Rally

Posted on by
Reply

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.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ice-pushes-to-deport-atlanta-based-reporter-mario-guevara-arrested-at-no-kings-rally

Guardian: Spanish-language journalist to be turned over to Ice after protest arrest

Posted on by
Reply

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.

…

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.

…

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.

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

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/16/journalist-ice-protest-arrest-mario-guevara