Mario Guevara, a longtime Atlanta-based journalist, faces imminent deportation after an immigration appeals court closed his case and ordered his removal, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Lawyers warn that the El Salvador native, who has lived in the United States for more than 20 years, could be placed on a deportation flight at any moment.
Guevara’s attorney, Giovanni Diaz, confirmed that an emergency petition has been filed in federal court in South Georgia seeking to halt his removal. Guevara currently holds a valid work permit and has a pending green card application. While his initial asylum claim was denied in 2012, his deportation case had been administratively closed, allowing him to remain in the U.S. legally until now.
The case stems from Guevara’s June arrest at a “No Kings Day” protest in suburban Atlanta. Local police charged him with failing to disperse and standing in the roadway. Those charges, as well as unrelated traffic citations later filed, were quickly dismissed. However, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) placed him in detention and pursued his removal. Guevara has since spent more than three months at the Folkston ICE Processing Center in South Georgia, the same facility where hundreds of immigrant workers were recently detained during a raid at a battery plant construction site.
An immigration judge initially granted Guevara release on bond, but ICE appealed the decision. The recent order of deportation renders the bond issue moot, though the ACLU maintains a habeas corpus petition is still pending in federal court.
Advocates argue that Guevara’s detention and looming deportation are retaliatory. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) noted that Guevara has extensively reported on immigration issues and said his case highlights threats to press freedom in the U.S.
“This is a clear act of retaliation against a journalist for his reporting,” CPJ said in a statement. “Deporting Mario Guevara would send a chilling message to immigrant journalists and the communities they serve.”
Despite more than two decades of residence in the U.S., Guevara’s future now hinges on the outcome of emergency court filings. Until a ruling is issued, his supporters warn he could be deported at any time
