ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) — A Spanish-speaking journalist who was arrested while covering a protest on the outskirts of Atlanta last month and is being held in a federal immigration detention facility said he felt a calling to help those whose voices are too often unheard, his children said on Tuesday.
DeKalb County police arrested Mario Guevara while he covered a protest on June 14, and he was placed into ICE custody a few days later. An immigration judge set a bond of $7,500 for him earlier this month, but that decision has been stayed while the government appeals.
For now, Guevara remains detained at an immigrant detention center in Folkston, in southeast Georgia, near the Florida border and about a five-hour drive from his family’s home in the Atlanta suburbs.
Katherine Guevara, 27, noted that for more than two decades she has witnessed the “unyielding dedication and selfless commitment of my father to serving the Hispanic community.”
“He sought stories that mattered, stories that told the truth about immigration, injustice, and people who are often overlooked,” she said at a news conference at the Georgia State Capitol.
Guevara, 47, fled El Salvador two decades ago and built a large following as a journalist in the Atlanta metropolitan area. He spent several years with Mundo Hispánico, a Spanish-language newspaper, and launched a digital news outlet called MG News a year ago. He was live-streaming on social media from a No Kings protest against the government of President Donald Trump when local police arrested him in DeKalb County.
Guevara routinely arrives at scenes where ICE or other law enforcement agencies are active, often after tips from community members. He regularly streams the scene live on social media.
“Growing up, I didn’t always understand why my dad was so obsessed with his work, why he would get up and leave dinner to chase a story. But I understand it now,” said Oscar Guevara, 21, who now works as a photojournalist for MG News.
Guevara’s children were joined at the press conference by civil rights and press-freedom groups, as well as state lawmakers.
“Mario Guevara is a journalist, and that is why his detention raises even bigger questions about civil rights, constitutional rights, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press,” state Senator Josh McLaurin said.
Giovanni Díaz, one of Guevara’s lawyers, said he and the family have been in regular contact with the journalist. He noted that Guevara is doing well but feels “deeply affected” because he believes he is being punished unfairly by a country he loves so much.
“He keeps smiling. He’s in good spirits. And he’s in this to fight, and so are we,” Díaz stated.
Guevara is “essentially in isolation,” Díaz said, adding that ICE has said it is for his own safety since he is a public figure and his reporting style has sometimes been controversial. But being alone “takes a toll on you,” Díaz commented.
An immigration judge agreed with Guevara’s lawyers that the journalist does not pose a danger to the community, but ICE argued that he poses a threat such that he should not be released, Díaz said. The lawyer said he is hopeful the Board of Immigration Appeals will rule in Guevara’s favor and he will be able to post bond, allowing him to stay free while challenging the government’s deportation efforts.
Guevara has permission to work and live in the country, Díaz noted. A prior immigration case against him was administratively closed more than a decade ago, and he has a pending application for permanent resident status, also known as a green card.
Video of his arrest shows Guevara wearing a bright red shirt beneath a protective vest with the word “press” printed on the chest. He can be heard telling a police officer, “I’m a member of the press, officer.” He stood on a sidewalk with other reporters, with no signs of large crowds or confrontations nearby, moments before being taken into custody.
Police charged Guevara with unlawful assembly, obstruction of police, and being a pedestrian on or along the roadway. His lawyers worked to secure his release and he was granted bond in DeKalb, but ICE had placed a hold on him and he was detained until they came to collect him.
On June 25, DeKalb County District Attorney Donna Coleman-Stribling dismissed the charges, saying the video showed Guevara was “generally compliant and did not demonstrate an intent to disobey police directives.”
Gwinnett County Police, in the neighboring county, announced on June 20, after Guevara was already in ICE custody, that warrants had been secured against him for distracted driving, failure to obey a traffic-control device, and reckless driving. Gwinnett County Attorney Lisamarie Bristol announced on July 10 that those charges would not be pursued.
