ATLANTA (AP) — A Spanish-language journalist who had been in immigration detention in Georgia since June was deported on Friday to El Salvador.
Mario Guevara, 48, was covering a protest just outside Atlanta on June 14 when local police arrested him and subsequently turned him over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). His lawyers were involved in parallel battles across the immigration court and federal court systems to secure his release.
In a live video posted on Facebook Friday afternoon, Guevara was seen emerging from a vehicle escorted by El Salvador government officials and hugging a woman who recorded the moment. “Hello, Mom,” Guevara greeted as he stood in his homeland once more.
Looking to the sky, he expressed his feelings: “My country, my country, my country. Thank God. This isn’t how I wanted to come to my country, but thank God.”
Guevara’s deportation followed the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision to decline a hold on his deportation order, which had been issued by the Board of Immigration Appeals.
All criminal charges against Guevara were dismissed by local prosecutors. His attorneys asserted that his detention was retaliatory, aimed at silencing his work as a journalist and violating his constitutional rights.
Guevara had fled El Salvador two decades ago due to fear and had built a significant presence as a journalist in the Atlanta area, initially working for Mundo Hispanico before founding a digital news outlet called MG News.
He gained notoriety for livestreaming events involving ICE and law enforcement, often after receiving tips from community members. Video footage of his arrest captured him wearing a bright red shirt under a protective vest labeled “PRESS” as he identified himself to a police officer who approached him.
After an immigration judge granted him bond in July, he remained detained while the government appealed the decision. An earlier immigration case in 2012 had denied Guevara's application to stay in the U.S., but his lawyers argued he deserved consideration based on a pending visa application sponsored by his adult U.S. citizen son.
In the aftermath of Guevara entering ICE custody, the government moved to reopen his old immigration case. Although his legal team did not contest this, they sought for it to be returned to a lower court due to the new visa application. The Board of Immigration Appeals ultimately dismissed his appeal, ordered his deportation, and denied his request to return the case to the lower immigration court.
Following a failed appeal at the 11th Circuit, Guevara's lawyers maintain that the deportation order is based on inaccurate information and highlighted another case challenging the constitutionality of his detention, which is still active in federal court.
