Legal Fight to Free Journalist Mario Guevara from ICE Detention

September 22, 2025 – USA –

Journalist Mario Guevara, a Salvadoran national and veteran Spanish-language reporter in Atlanta, now faces imminent deportation to El Salvador after a recent ruling by the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals.

Guevara was arrested on June 14, 2025, while covering a protest in DeKalb County, wearing press identification. Though misdemeanor charges stemming from his arrest were quickly dropped, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) placed him in federal detention.

Earlier in July, an immigration judge granted Guevara release on bond, but ICE declined to comply and instead transferred him to another facility, prompting continued detention. The appeals board has since reopened a 13-year-old immigration case, dismissed his bond appeal as “moot,” and ordered his removal.

Legal forces, including the ACLU and ACLU of Georgia, are now working urgently to secure Guevara’s release from ICE detention, filing motions in federal court to block his deportation and denouncing his imprisonment as retaliation for his journalism. They argue he has a pathway to permanent residency and warn that deportation would endanger both his life and the press freedom landscape in the U.S.

Guevara’s family has voiced deep concern over the psychological and physical toll of his prolonged detention. His two U.S. citizen children, one with long-term medical needs, depend on his presence. More than 25 press freedom and human rights organizations have joined calls for his immediate release.

The battle now rests before a federal judge, who will decide whether Guevara can be freed while legal challenges proceed.

This case starkly illustrates the risks faced by immigrant journalists in the U.S., whose attempts to document power can bring them into direct conflict with the very systems they cover.

Reference – 

https://www.axios.com/local/atlanta/2025/09/22/mario-guevara-journalist-ice-deportation

ACLU Seeks Order to Immediately Release Journalist Mario Guevara, Who May Be Sent to El Salvador At Any Moment