A Spanish-language journalist arrested while covering a protest in Georgia remains in federal custody a week after an immigration judge granted him bond, his lawyer has said. Mario Guevara, 47, was detained by police in DeKalb County on 14 June while livestreaming a rally against Donald Trump's administration, and later handed over to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
An immigration judge granted Guevara bond last week, but ICE refused to accept the $7,500 payment from his family, according to attorney Giovanni Diaz. Guevara has since been moved between three different jails. 'We are of the opinion that there seems to be a concerted effort between different jurisdictions to keep him detained,' Diaz said.
Guevara, who fled El Salvador two decades ago, worked for the Spanish-language newspaper Mundo Hispanico before launching his own digital outlet, MG News. He has authorization to work and remain in the US, with a pending green card application sponsored by his adult US citizen son. A previous immigration case against him was administratively closed over a decade ago.
After the bond was granted, Guevara's family tried to pay online and in person, but ICE refused, Diaz said. ICE has since challenged the release to the Board of Immigration Appeals, seeking to put the bond order on hold. Guevara was transferred to Gwinnett County on open traffic warrants, released on bond there, but re-detained by ICE and moved to Floyd County, then to a federal Bureau of Prisons facility in Atlanta.
DeKalb police charged Guevara with unlawful assembly, obstruction, and being a pedestrian on a roadway. The charges were dismissed on 25 June, with the solicitor general's office stating that video evidence showed Guevara 'generally in compliance' and lacking intent to disregard police directives. Press freedom groups have criticized his arrest, arguing he was simply doing his job.
