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'Unconstitutional, Un-American, and Wrong': Journalist Mario Guevara to Be Deported to El Salvador Friday
"Mario's treatment should terrify any person in this country that cares about a free press," said an ACLU attorney.
Oct 02, 2025
Journalist Mario Guevara's family and lawyers said Thursday that the award-winning Spanish-language journalist is set to be deported from the United States to his native El Salvador on Friday morning.
The announcement comes after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday declined to block a final order of removal from the Board of Immigration Appeals. The ACLU said in a statement that Guevara's wife and three children were not allowed to say goodbye to the journalist, who was transferred to a Louisiana facility ahead of his deportation after being held in a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) center in Georgia for over 100 days.
"Words cannot begin to describe the loss and devastation my family feels. I am in utter shock and disbelief the government has punished my father for simply doing his life’s work of journalism," said his son Oscar Guevara, who also shared an update in Spanish on his father's Facebook account.
"My father should have never had to face over 100 days in detention," Oscar Guevara continued. "He is the center of our family. He is the reason our home feels like home. To me, he's my rock, and I don't know what life without him here will look like now that he will be deported."
"When I was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2021, it was my dad who centered me, who drove me to my medical appointments, and who lifted me up," he added. "Now, I will have to manage my healthcare on my own, and live thousands of miles away separated from him. My family has been torn apart for no good reason, and I can only hope that we can one day be reunited."
Guevara has covered immigration in the Atlanta area for two decades. He was arrested in June while reporting on a "No Kings" protest in Georgia. The local charges against him were dropped, but he has remained in ICE custody in Folkston, despite having work authorization and a path to a green card through his son.
The reporter's battle to remain in the United States has played out as ICE works to deliver on President Donald Trump's promise of mass deportations and his adminstration cracks down on criticism from journalists, comedians, and more. Press freedom and immigrant rights advocates have sounded the alarm about his case.
"The government kept Mario unlawfully detained for weeks because of his vital reporting on law enforcement activity. His deportation is a devastating and tragic outcome for a father and celebrated journalist," said Scarlet Kim, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU, one of the groups representing Guevara in federal court.
"Journalists should not have to fear government retaliation, including prolonged detention, for reporting on government activity, and showing up to work should not result in your family being torn apart," added Kim. "Mario's treatment should terrify any person in this country that cares about a free press."
Freedom of the Press Foundation is among the groups that have been demanding his release. The organization's director of advocacy, Seth Stern, said Thursday that "Mario Guevara was ripped from his family and community because the Trump administration punishes journalists to protect its own power."
"The only thing that journalists like Guevara threaten is the government's chokehold on information it doesn't want the public to know. That's why he's being deported and why federal agents are assaulting and arresting journalists around the country," Stern continued. "The full impact on our freedom of speech may never be known. But what is certain is that Guevara's deportation sends a chilling message to other journalists: Tell the truth, and the state will come for you."
"This is unconstitutional, un-American, and wrong," he added. "It's an assault on the First Amendment, and it won't stop until we all fight back by speaking out."
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ACLU Asks Court to Free Journalist at Risk of Swift Deportation to El Salvador
"If Mr. Guevara is deported it will be a devastating outcome for a journalist whose initial detention was a gross violation of his rights," said ACLU of Georgia legal director Cory Isaacson.
Sep 19, 2025
The ACLU is asking a federal district court in Georgia to order the immediate release of Mario Guevara, a journalist arrested while covering a June "No Kings" protest, after the Board of Immigration Appeals on Friday ordered his return to El Salvador.
The Emmy-winning Spanish-language journalist has reported on immigrant issues in the Atlanta area for two decades. When he was arrested on the job this year, he had a work permit and a path to a green card through his US citizen son. The charges from June have been dropped, but he remains at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) center in Folkston.
ICE refused to comply with a July 1 decision that Guevara could be released on bond. The Board of Immigration Appeals has now dismissed his bond appeal "as 'moot' because it has also granted the government's motion to reopen his removal proceedings," according to the ACLU—which secured an emergency federal district court hearing on Friday.
"Mr. Guevara should not even be in immigration detention, but the government has kept him there for months because of his crucial reporting on law enforcement activity," said Scarlet Kim, senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. "The fact that he may now be put on a plane to El Salvador, a country he fled out of fear, at any moment, despite a clear path to becoming a permanent resident, is despicable. The court must ensure he is not deported and should order his release from detention immediately."
"The fact that he may now be put on a plane to El Salvador, a country he fled out of fear, at any moment, despite a clear path to becoming a permanent resident, is despicable."
In a letter published Friday by The Bitter Southerner, Guevara detailed his experience since his arrest and wrote: "I don't know why ICE wants to continue treating me like a criminal. It pains me to know that I have been denied every privilege and the right to be free when I have never committed any crime."
"This whole situation has me devastated, and not only morally, but also economically, because I am the breadwinner for the home," he explained. "Since my arrest, I have lost tens of thousands of dollars, and my company, the news channel MGNews, is on the verge of bankruptcy."
"But I have to remain strong and confident that the United States still has some caring and decency left and that in the end justice will prevail," he added. "Hopefully, soon all my tears and my family's tears will be wiped away, and we can have fun and smile, triumphant, as we did before, together and in absolute freedom."
Guevara's legal team and press freedom groups have emphasized that his case is bigger than a single reporter. As ACLU of Georgia legal director Cory Isaacson put it on Friday, "If Mr. Guevara is deported it will be a devastating outcome for a journalist whose initial detention was a gross violation of his rights."
"The immediate release of Mr. Guevara is the only way to correct this injustice that has immeasurably harmed his well-being and the well-being of his family, the community, and the people of Georgia," Isaacson added. "In a democracy, journalists should not be arrested for exercising their constitutional rights to report the news."
Mario Guevara is here legally and is not facing any criminal charges.He is being thrown out of the country for nothing but reporting news.
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— Freedom of the Press Foundation (@freedom.press) September 19, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Other free press advocates also responded with alarm to the Board of Immigration Appeals' Friday decision.
"We are outraged that journalist Mario Guevara was initially detained for almost 100 days because the government believes that livestreaming law enforcement poses a danger to their operations," Committee to Protect Journalists US, Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator Katherine Jacobsen said in a Friday statement.
"This latest move allows the government to circumvent addressing the reason why Guevara was detained, in retaliation for his journalism," Jacobsen continued. "Instead, authorities are using the very real threat of deportation to remove a reporter from the country simply for doing his job and covering the news."
Tim Richardson, journalism and disinformation program director at PEN America, similarly said that "if carried out, this ruling would mark a dangerous moment for press freedom, with the United States—long considered a beacon for free speech—moving to deport a journalist in direct retaliation for his reporting."
"This mirrors the tactics of authoritarian governments the US has long condemned and sends a chilling message to reporters everywhere, especially those covering vulnerable communities or government abuses of power," he added. "We urge the court to reconsider and to allow Mario Guevara to remain in the country and continue his reporting free from fear of deportation or retaliation."
US President Donald Trump campaigned on the promise of mass deportations, and since returning to power in January, his administration has sought to deliver on that. On Friday, Free Press senior counsel Nora Benavidez warned, "Deportation without due process—that would be the new normal set by Mario Guevara's removal from the United States."
"Horrific and lawless, this is the environment the Trump administration created to promote a singular approved narrative, remove critical news coverage for communities, and chill journalists' freedom should they dare hold power to account," she said. "Mr. Guevara's case is happening live, with breaking updates occurring under a sealed case shrouded in secrecy, upon which his removal and ability to report depend."
Ahead of the developments on Friday, Benavidez had tied Guevara's case to the government's effort to deport Mahmoud Khalil over his protests against Israel's US-backed genocide in Gaza, and Disney yanking late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off the air after the Trump administration objected to his comments about the fatal shooting of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
"Mahmoud Khalil was just ordered to be deported for his free speech," she said Thursday. "Mario Guevara is in detention for filming police. Jimmy Kimmel taken off air for his speech. TikTok [is] being bought by Trump cronies. All of it moves towards one singular narrative Trump approves. We must resist."
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475 Immigrants Arrested in Raid of Hyundai EV Plant in Georgia
A spokesperson for South Korea's foreign ministry said that "the economic activities of our companies investing in the US and the rights and interests of our nationals must not be unfairly violated."
Sep 05, 2025
The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday expressed "concern and regret" after US agents arrested 475 immigrants at a Hyundai electric vehicle plant in Ellabell, Georgia and turned them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ICE was among several agencies involved in "the largest single-site enforcement operation in the history of Homeland Security Investigations," Steven Schrank, the special agent in charge for HSI Atlanta, said during a Friday morning press conference.
The immigrants worked for a variety of companies and were arrested "as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into allegations of unlawful employment practices," Schrank explained. The probe continues, but no criminal charges are being filed at this time.
While Schrank only confirmed that a large number of those arrested on Thursday are South Koreans, a diplomatic source told the news agency Yonhap that the figure is over 300.
Yonhap also reported on a press briefing in which a spokesperson for South Korea's foreign ministry, Lee Jae-woong, said that "the economic activities of our companies investing in the US and the rights and interests of our nationals must not be unfairly violated."
"We conveyed our concern and regret through the US Embassy in Seoul today," Lee added.
According to The Associated Press:
Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea's biggest automaker, began manufacturing EVs a year ago at the $7.6 billion plant, which employs about 1,200 people, and has partnered with LG Energy Solution to build an adjacent battery plant, slated to open next year.
In a statement to The Associated Press, LG said it was "closely monitoring the situation and gathering all relevant details." It said it couldn't immediately confirm how many of its employees or Hyundai workers had been detained.
"Our top priority is always ensuring the safety and well-being of our employees and partners. We will fully cooperate with the relevant authorities," the company said.
Hyundai's South Korean office didn't respond to AP's requests for comment. Forbes highlighted that the raid comes shortly after the company "announced it would invest $26 billion in the US over the next three years," which is expected to create 25,000 jobs.
During the Friday press conference, Schrank appeared to try to distinguish these arrests from President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda, saying that "this was not an immigration operation where agents went into the premises, rounded up folks, and put them on buses—this has been a multimonth criminal investigation."
However, Tori Branum, a firearms instructor and Republican candidate for Georgia's 12th Congressional District who is publicly taking credit for the raid, made the connection clear.
"For months, folks have whispered about what's going on behind those gates," Branum wrote on Facebook. "I reported this site to ICE a few months ago and was on the phone with an agent."
"This is what I voted for—to get rid of a lot of illegals," she told Rolling Stone after the arrests. "And what I voted for is happening."
In addition to raids of other workplaces such as farms in California, Trump's mass deporation agenda has featured an effort to illegally deport hundreds of children to Guatemala over Labor Day weekend, masked agents in plain clothes ripping people off US streets, arresting firefighters while they were on the job, revoking Temporary Protected Status for various foreign nationals, and locking up immigrants in horrific conditions in facilities including "Alligator Alcatraz."
American Immigration Council legal director Michelle Lapointe, who is based in the Atlanta area, said in a Friday statement that "these raids don't make anyone safer. They terrorize workers, destabilize communities, and push families into chaos."
"This historic raid may make dramatic headlines, but it does nothing to fix the problems in our broken immigration system: a lack of legal pathways and a misguided focus on punishing workers and families who pose no threat to our communities," she added. "Raiding work sites isn't reform, it's political theater at the expense of families, communities, and our economy."
This article was updated with comment from the American Immigration Council.
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