Mario Guevara, the metro Atlanta-based Spanish language reporter, was granted a $7,500 bond Tuesday and was scheduled for release later that night, family members told Notivisión Georgia, a Spanish-language publication.
Guevara’s arrest and nearly two-week stint in ICE detention garnered headlines nationwide, and drew the attention of U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.
An immigrant from El Salvador, Guevara remains in deportation proceedings but he will be home with his family as his case works its way through immigration court.
“We are so happy because my dad will finally be free,” Katherine Guevara, Guevara’s daughter, told Notivisión Georgia.
Earlier in the week, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock has sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem on behalf of Guevara, expressing concern that the reporter’s First Amendment rights may have been violated.
“As a United States Senator for Georgia, I agree that our country must secure its border and ensure individuals who have committed violent crimes are removed from our streets. I also believe that our government must uphold all Constitutional rights,” Warnock wrote to Noem.
The Georgia Democrat relayed concern from press freedom advocates over Guevara’s treatment. He forwarded Noem a letter from the Committee to Protect Journalists asking that deportation proceedings against Guevara “be dropped unequivocally and immediately.”
Guevara was livestreaming a June 14 rally for immigrants’ rights when he was arrested and booked in DeKalb County Jail over his alleged behavior at the gathering, which had grown tense. The journalist’s booking triggered a detainer request from federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who picked up Guevara on June 18.
Since then, Guevara has been held in South Georgia’s Folkston ICE Processing Center — an immigrant jail slated to soon become the nation’s largest. He will have to fight in immigration court for his right to stay in the U.S.
Although Guevara has work authorization and a path to a green card through his U.S. citizen son, he still lacks permanent legal status in the country.
“Mr. Guevara is a respected, Emmy-award winning journalist in the Atlanta area, and he has served the local community for years,” Warnock’s letter reads.
Guevara received good news last week when the Office of the DeKalb County Solicitor-General dropped the three misdemeanor criminal charges that had led to his arrest while covering the June 14 protest. But the reporter still faces criminal charges from another metro Atlanta law enforcement agency.
On June 19, the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office filed charges against Guevara “for distracted driving, failure to obey traffic control device, and reckless driving.” All are misdemeanors.
The charges seem to be connected to Guevara’s daily routine as a reporter, which consisted of following immigration agents around in his truck while livestreaming for a mass audience on social media.
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