A Salvadoran journalist who built a big social media following by documenting immigration raids may be facing deportation.
Federal authorities have requested an immigration “detainer” for Mario Guevara, who was arrested during a “No Kings” protest near Atlanta last Saturday, his lawyer said.
The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed outrage about Guevara’s continued detention on Tuesday.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer request, “which could lead to Guevara’s deportation, is a crude form of censorship,” said Katherine Jacobsen, the committee’s US, Canada and Caribbean program coordinator.
Guevara entered the United States in 2004 on a tourist visa after he faced death threats due to his reporting in El Salvador, according to a 2012 CNN profile of the reporter.
In recent years, he gained a high profile in Georgia for his one-man-band approach to covering immigration enforcement.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote last month that Guevara “has made it his journalistic calling card to provide live, first-hand documentation of immigration arrests and their emotional aftermath.”
Guevara’s “MGnews” account on Facebook has nearly 800,000 followers. He was live-streaming on Saturday when he captured his own arrest on video during a protest in Doraville, a city northeast of Atlanta.
The video, which was archived on Facebook, showed Guevara walking away from protests after police asked demonstrators to disperse.
As Guevara continued to walk forward, officers approached him from behind and proceeded to arrest him.
“Officer, Officer, I’m a member of the media, officer,” he was heard telling police. “Okay, let me finish. You take my phone, please — to my work. Don’t leave there, please. Thank you, officer, thank you. Can you put, please in my bag? The phone, please, it’s for my work, please.”
The livestream also captured Guevara being escorted to a police car. “But I didn’t anything wrong. Just reporting, officer, just reporting,” Guevara said a final time.
According to records from the DeKalb County jail, where the reporter remains detained, he was charged with improperly entering a pedestrian roadway, obstruction of law enforcement officers and unlawful assembly.
According to Zachary Gaeta, one of the reporter’s attorneys, Guevara was clearly identifiable as a member of the media. On the live-streamed video, he is seen wearing a vest and press credentials.
“He was not protesting, he was recording,” Gaeta said in a video on Facebook.
Attorneys had arranged for Guevara to be released on bail Monday, but he remained in custody following the request by ICE, Gaeta added.
ICE may issue immigration detainer requests to federal, state, or local agencies — including jails — to hold individuals in their custody for up to 48 additional hours so ICE officers can arrest the person. These other agencies are not required to honor an ICE request.
Gaeta said his office was preparing to file another bail motion if immigration authorities take custody of the journalist.
In February post on Instagram, Guevara said he was not a US citizen nor pretended to be one, but he loved and respected the US as much as his own country. “God bless America,” he added.
CNN has reached out to ICE for comment. CNN has also reached out to Guevara’s attorneys with Diaz & Gaeta Law for more information on his immigration status. CNN has also contacted DeKalb County authorities and Doraville Police.
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