DEKALB COUNTY, GA — A Hispanic journalist arrested during a weekend protest in DeKalb County is now in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody and could face deportation.
Mario Guevara, a well-known Metro Atlanta reporter who covers immigration enforcement and immigrant communities, was released from the DeKalb County Jail early Wednesday morning, according to jail records.
Guevara was arrested Saturday by Doraville police while covering a protest on Chamblee Tucker Road. He was livestreaming the demonstration in Spanish and wearing a helmet and a press vest when tensions escalated between protesters and police. In the video, Guevara can be heard identifying himself as a journalist before being taken to the ground and detained by officers.
He was later charged with obstruction of law enforcement, walking improperly in a roadway, and unlawful assembly. A judge granted him bond on Monday, but before he could be released, ICE placed a 48-hour hold, according to his attorney, Giovanni Diaz.
Diaz said Guevara is not a legal permanent resident, but he does have authorization to live and work in the U.S. Guevara fled El Salvador in 2004, where he was a political reporter, and previously worked for Mundo Hispanico, Georgia’s largest Spanish-language newspaper.
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