Journalist Mario Guevara was live-streaming the June 14 anti-ICE protest on Chamblee Tucker Road when he was detained. Photo credit: Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon with the Atlanta Civic Circle
An immigration judge ordered Spanish-language journalist Mario Guevara to be deported on Friday despite a pending First Amendment case in federal court, setting off a frenzied attempt by his attorneys to stop the deportation from happening.
Guevara was arrested earlier this summer while covering an anti-ICE protest in DeKalb County. His arrest has alarmed free speech advocates and attracted national attention.
Friday’s ruling relies on a 2012 order stemming from Guevara’s request for asylum in 2005. While his request was initially denied, the case was administratively closed on appeal which paused deportation proceedings against Guevara indefinitely, but not permanently. The new order concluded that a previous immigration judge was prohibited from issuing Guevara bond in July due to that order.
Sandy Springs Democratic state Sen. Josh McLaurin, who is also an attorney, spoke against the immigration judge’s decision at a hastily called press conference Friday.
“I want to make something clear. This is not a court in the traditional sense. This is not the judiciary with Senate-confirmed judges. The Board of Immigration Affairs is an executive agency with judges appointed by other executive officials that are responsible to the Trump administration. So make no mistake, this is not an isolated incident. This is yet another attempt by the Trump administration to silence and chill journalists for doing their jobs,” McLaurin said.
Following the immigration judge’s ruling this year, that 2012 deportation case was reopened, enabling Guevara’s deportation to now happen at any moment.
Guevara’s attorneys had also been trying to argue in federal court that his continued detention by ICE is illegal on First Amendment grounds. Guevara’s legal team, led by the ACLU of Georgia, is seeking a restraining order preventing the federal government from deporting Guevara while this case is still pending in federal court.
An emergency hearing was called in that case late Friday afternoon. While supporters had hoped a restraining order would be granted immediately, the judge instead requested attorneys on both sides to submit additional briefs by next week. It’s unclear if federal authorities will attempt to deport Guevara while the restraining order is still pending.
Guevara was arrested on June 14. He was transferred into ICE custody from the DeKalb County Jail under the terms of a controversial 2024 Georgia immigration law.
Originally from El Salvador, Guevara has lived and worked legally in the United States for the past 20 years, according to his attorneys. He fled El Salvador for fear of political violence due to his work as a journalist. A longtime journalist for Spanish-language outlet Mundo Hispanico, he founded his own newsroom, MGNews, in 2024.
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