An Atlanta-based reporter detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since June is suing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi, along with other administration officials, for his immediate release, the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia announced Thursday.
Mario Guevara — a Salvadoran national and award-winning journalist who says he entered the country lawfully in 2004 — was arrested in June while reporting at a Georgia “No Kings Day” rally. Despite an immigration judge ordering his release on bond in July, Guevara has remained in detention ever since his initial arrest after a government appeal, according to his Thursday petition, filed in a district court in Southern Georgia.
Now, Guevara is detained at the Folkston ICE Processing Center in southeast Georgia, the only journalist in the country currently jailed as a result of reporting, he contends.
“The Government’s continuing detention of Mr. Guevara on the basis of his journalism is intended to silence him, prevent him from reporting in the future, and retaliate against him for his past speech and reporting, in violation of the First Amendment,” the filing states.
Guevara’s attorneys say he left his native El Salvador in 2004 after fleeing “violence and harassment for his work as a journalist,” and entered the country on a B-1 temporary business visa. His attorneys say he applied for relief from deportation in 2007. In 2012, the Board of Immigration granted a motion to administratively close the removal proceedings facing Guevara. He had not faced potential removal by the government since, his attorneys said. In court filings, they said he is “legally authorized to live and work in the country” and has a pathway to a green card.
The legal fight to free Guevara is taking place amid President Donald Trump’s plans to increase deportations.
ICE is set to grow dramatically under Trump. The agency is flexing funding from the administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act to meet lofty hiring goals and reach 1 million yearly deportations. The agency is offering sign-on bonuses of up to $50,000, easing age restrictions for prospective applicants and hosting in-person hiring events to boost recruitment.
And Bondi is pushing Democrat-led cities and states to drop "sanctuary" policies — all while the White House takes on a far more active role in policing the nation’s capital.
The Department of Justice declined to comment. ICE and DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Guevara’s suit.
The Committee to Protect Journalists filed a declaration of support for Guevara this week, the organization announced Thursday.
“It is imperative that immigration authorities fully explain why he is still in detention,” CPJ Regional Director José Zamora said in a press statement. “Keeping Guevara behind bars effectively ends the journalist’s ability to report the news and sends a chilling message to others who want to exercise their right to share information, including recorded images, about what officials do in public.”
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