Atlanta immigrant journalist seeks release after months in ICE custody

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00:00An Atlanta journalist has been held in ICE custody since June with no criminal charges

00:05and he's taking the government to court. Essentially,

00:08he's asking a judge to determine why he's being held and if it's legal.

00:14The ACLU of Georgia announced Thursday that Mario Guevara is suing DHS, ICE and the Justice

00:21Department, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Guevara,

00:26an El Salvadoran national, was arrested on June 14th while covering a No Kings Day rally

00:32in DeKalb County. Attorneys say he identified himself as a journalist, wore a vest marked press

00:38and stayed separate from protesters before being taken into custody. The Committee to Protect

00:44Journalists filed a declaration in his support saying his detention is linked to his reporting.

00:50All criminal charges against Guevara have since been dropped. An immigration judge later granted

00:55him bond in July, but federal officials appealed it, keeping him in federal custody on an immigration

01:01detainer. The ACLU argues this is an attempt to silence a journalist violating his First and Fifth

01:08Amendment rights. DHS says he was detained for failing to follow police orders and claims he

01:14entered the U.S. illegally. The ACLU disputes that, saying he's lived in Georgia for more than 20 years

01:20and entered legally after fleeing threats in El Salvador in 2004. The immigration case against

01:26him was eventually settled and he later applied for a green card but has yet to be approved.

01:31Guevara built his career in Spanish-language media, launching MG News in 2024, a digital outlet with

01:37nearly a million followers. According to court filings, his reporting focuses on immigration and law

01:44enforcement, including stories that expose federal agency missteps. His petition seeks release so he

01:50can return to his family and continue his journalism. For more on this story, head to san.com or download

01:57the Straight Arrow News mobile app today. For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kayleigh Carey.