Mario Guevara, the metro Atlanta-based Spanish-language reporter who built a mass audience with his coverage of immigration raids, could be deported following his arrest at a protest over the weekend, according to his attorney.
A lawyer for Guevara told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged what is known as a “detainer” against the journalist, which is often the first step in deportation procedures.
ICE detainers are requests for local jails to hold detainees for an additional 48 hours beyond their scheduled release dates so they can be picked up by federal immigration officials.
The fact that an ICE detainer has been issued in Guevara’s case means that the federal government believes that the El Salvador native can be deported.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Guevara was one of eight people arrested Saturday at DeKalb County protest targeting President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement. He was there to cover the rally, livestreaming the event for a social media audience that exceeds 1 million people.
Online police records show Guevara was arrested by the Doraville Police Department and charged with obstruction of law enforcement, unlawful assembly, and pedestrian walking on or along a roadway.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
On Monday, Guevara’s attorneys successfully petitioned DeKalb County Magistrate Court for a bond, then learned of the ICE detainer which prevents him from being released.
Attorney Giovanni Diaz said that Guevara lacks permanent legal status, although he has work authorization and a path to a green card through his U.S. citizen son.
“You can imagine with this administration, they always reserve the right to put an ICE hold on anybody that is technically not a legal permanent resident, regardless of whether or not they have work authorization,” Diaz said.
The developments show Guevara was taking extraordinary risks as he crisscrossed the metro area to document immigration raids close up.
“My lawyers are asking me to tone it down, to not be so aggressive,” Guevara told the AJC in an interview about his work earlier this spring. “I’m acting as if I were a citizen … but I’m not scared.”
ICE detainers are not warrants, and individual jails can decide not to honor them, and release immigrant detainees before the 48 hours requested by ICE are up.
In the past, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office has taken steps to limit their compliance with ICE detainers under certain conditions.
But Diaz says DeKalb authorities may choose to keep Guevara behind bars long enough for him to be transferred to ICE detention, where he could face deportation.
“The clock is running,” he said. “We have to be prepared for the possibility that he will end up with ICE.”
The AJC has reached out to the DeKalb County’s Sheriff’s Office to ask whether it plans to keep Guevara in custody at ICE’s request.
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