Mario Guevara was arrested on June 14 while live-streaming law enforcement officers at a ‘No Kings’ demonstration in the Atlanta metropolitan area, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
As stated by CNN
Mario Guevara, a Salvadoran journalist who rose to prominence for his live on-air coverage of immigration raids, was deported from the United States after months in federal detention.
The deportation took place early Friday morning and was confirmed to CNN by representatives of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). It occurred more than three months after his arrest while covering the No Kings protest in the Atlanta area. His detention within the immigration process continued after the arrest.
Upon arriving at the San Salvador airport on Friday, he was released by El Salvador’s immigration authorities, and there is currently no expectation of his transfer to an immigration facility in the capital.
In conversations with reporters in El Salvador, Guevara said that he feels “strong” and described the situation as bittersweet.
«I feel sorrow, but I also feel joy to be home in my homeland. I mean, they didn’t kill me. Perhaps a racist government wanted to kill me. And I am here in my homeland. So, in the end, this, in my view, is a blessing.»
“In the end they are simply following orders,” he added.
Guevara’s deportation came after the Board of Immigration Appeals closed his case on September 19 with an order to remove him from the United States. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which supports the journalist, filed a temporary restraining order on Monday, but the court had previously rejected it.
«Journalists should not fear government repression, including prolonged detention for covering government activity, and coming to work should not separate families,» said Scarlett Kim, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. “Guevara’s treatment should alarm anyone in this country who cares about press freedom.»
For months, human rights groups, including CPJ and the ACLU, criticized Guevara’s prolonged detention, which continued even after a Georgia immigration judge ordered his release on bond in early July. Dozens of press-freedom organizations and more than 100 journalists and scholars urged his release from ICE custody.
«The only thing journalists like Guevara threaten is the government’s grip on information it does not want the public to know,»
Later, the Board of Immigration Appeals reopened Guevara’s 13-year case, allowing him to temporarily work in the United States; however, the board noted that immigration courts cannot approve his release due to the prior removal order in 2012.
Less than a week after the release decision, ICE obtained a stay from the immigration appellate court, effectively blocking release on bond and allowing continued detention.
During his detention, Guevara was the only known journalist to be held in such a position under the U.S. government’s actions.
«The pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States says: ‘with liberty and justice for all,’ Guevara wrote in a September letter published by the ACLU. ‘Now that’s a mistake. They should be for everyone except immigrants.»
In notes for MSNBC, his son Oscar said that the journalist “was not always safe” during his confinement. He described inmates photographing him and threatening to harm him if the family did not pay $60 a day. “What else could we do? We paid.”
«Words cannot begin to describe the losses and wreckage my family is enduring,» said Oscar Guevara ahead of Mario’s deportation. «I am in complete shock and I can’t believe the government punished my father simply for doing his life – journalism.»
Guevara first came to the United States in 2004 on a tourist visa and filed for asylum in 2005 after threats he received for his reporting in El Salvador.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) notes that journalists in El Salvador frequently face threats and equipment seizures. In recent years, there have been pressure cases among regional journalists, but murders have been rare. Guevara is known as a Spanish-speaking journalist with live broadcasts of immigration raids, which he posts for a broad audience.
Over more than 21 years working in the United States, Guevara collaborated with Mundo Hispánico, one of the largest Spanish-language newspapers in Georgia, and in 2024 launched MG News – a platform focused on topics relevant to Georgia’s Latino community, with emphasis on migration and immigrant life.
Throughout his career he was nominated three times for the Southeast Regional Emmy Award – in 2019, 2021 and 2023, winning in 2021. Jose Alvarez and Michael Rios of CNN also contributed to the piece.
Other topics you might like:
- Federal judge suggests immigration charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia may be retaliatory, opening new legal proceedings to examine DOJ motives in Tennessee.
- The US Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to end temporary protected status for about 300,000 Venezuelans, increasing their risk of deportation.
- Sean “Diddy” Combs emotionally appeals for a second chance before sentencing in his prostitution-related case, expressing remorse and commitment to change.
