Advocates, Family Call for Release of Atlanta Journalist Detained in 'Retaliation' for ICE Coverage

Press freedom and immigrants' rights advocates are calling for the release of an Atlanta journalist from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention after he was arrested last month while filming an anti-Trump protest.

Mario Guevara, a native of El Salvador, has lived in the United States legally for more than two decades, where he became renowned as one of the Atlanta area's most trusted immigration reporters.

The Guardian described Guevara, an Emmy-winning reporter, as "the person that immigrants call when they see an [ICE] raid going down in their neighborhood."

That was until June 14, when the 47-year-old was snatched up by police while filming an Atlanta area "No Kings" protest and handed over to ICE.

  (Video: CNN) 

Guevara was charged with traffic offenses related to his coverage of law enforcement activities earlier in the month, but those charges were later dropped. However, Guevara has remained in ICE custody for more than five weeks under a detainer from the immigration agency, which is now attempting to deport him.

On June 24, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security claimed that Guevara "is in our country ILLEGALLY." However, he has been granted authorization to work legally in the U.S. while he awaits his green card. He also entered the country through legal processes.

"I'm plainly convinced that my situation in this ICE jail is direct retaliation for my coverage," Guevara told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I haven't committed any crimes."

On July 1, an immigration judge granted Guevara a $7,500 bond for his release. But when his family tried to pay it, ICE refused to accept it and instead placed a stay on his bond, which will keep him in detention until a judge rules on his appeal.

Guevara has since been shuffled between several different ICE facilities, an experience he told the ACJ has left him "emotionally destroyed."

At a press conference held Tuesday by the Committee to Protect Journalists—which has headed the legal effort to free Guevara—José Zamora, the group's director for the Americas, said that Guevara is "the only journalist in prison in the U.S. in direct retaliation for his reporting."

  — (Video: Atlanta News First) 

"This is a blatant attack on press freedom, on the First Amendment, and on the right of communities, especially immigrant communities, to be informed," Zamora continued. "These communities rely on voices like Mario's to help make sense of the world around them."

Guevara's lawyer, Giovanni Diaz, described the stay placed on Guevara's bond by ICE as a "surprise" to him and the legal team. Though Zamora said he expected that his legal team will ultimately win the appeal, he said it was "a confirmation to us that they wanted to treat Mario very differently than other detained individuals."

But, he said, this is of a piece with how ICE has conducted itself during President Donald Trump's second term.

"The administration has made it perfectly clear that anybody who's not a legal permanent resident at least, or a citizen, even if they've been given certain protections and they've been allowed to remain in the United States legally—ICE has decided that these people are targets as well." Diaz said.

Two of Guevara's children also pleaded for his release.

"My father is a reporter," said Guevara's daughter Katherine. "He chased stories that mattered, stories that told the truth about immigration, about injustice, about people who usually go ignored."

"My dad did nothing wrong. He was arrested while wearing a press badge. He was live streaming. He wasn't in the way. He wasn't breaking any law. He was doing his job," she continued.

"His work wasn't just a job," said Guevara's son, Oscar. "It was a calling. And now he's being punished for answering that call."

Oscar said that his dad's dedication to his work inspired him to become a photojournalist himself.

"We were raised to believe that in this country, freedom of speech mattered, that journalism mattered, that hard work and honesty meant something," he said. "But none of that seems to matter right now."