Key points:
- Georgia journalist Mario Guevara detained by ICE for over two months.
- Guevara was arrested while reporting at a “No Kings” protest in DeKalb County.
- Guevara’s family has struggled financially during his detention, relying on church support.
ATLANTA — A Georgia journalist who has built his career covering immigration and law enforcement has filed for immediate release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody after being detained for more than two months.
Mario Alexander Guevara, founder of the Spanish-language outlet MG News, was arrested on June 14 while reporting at a “No Kings” protest in DeKalb County. He was wearing a press vest and standing alongside other journalists at the time. Criminal charges stemming from his presence at the demonstration were quickly dropped, and an immigration judge granted him bond on July 1. But ICE refused to release him, arguing that Guevara’s livestreams of law enforcement operations make him a danger to the community.
The American Civil Liberties Union and its Georgia affiliate, joined by the University of Georgia School of Law’s First Amendment Clinic and private attorneys, filed a habeas petition in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia last week. The 30-page petition describes his detention as retaliatory, unconstitutional and unprecedented.
“This case concerns the Government’s detention of Mario Alexander Guevara, an award-winning journalist, in order to retaliate against him for his constitutionally-protected speech and reporting, and to gag him from further speaking and reporting,” the filing states.
According to the petition, Guevara is the only journalist in the United States currently jailed because of his press activity. He has been held at five different detention facilities since his arrest and is now in solitary confinement at the Folkston ICE Processing Center, where he spends 22 hours a day locked in a small cell.
“Mario Guevara is being detained solely because of his journalism — specifically his livestreaming of immigration and other law enforcement officials,” said Scarlet Kim, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. “Documenting what government actors do in public is fully protected by the First Amendment, yet those activities are exactly what the government claims makes Mario a danger to society. His detention on this basis is unlawful and sends a chilling message to other journalists, particularly non-citizen journalists, that they will also face retaliation if they report on public officials. We ask the court to reject this egregious suppression of protected press activity and order Mr. Guevara’s immediate release.”
Guevara, who has lived in the United States since 2004, has three children, two of them U.S. citizens. One son, who suffered a stroke during brain surgery, depends on him for long-term care. His family has struggled financially during his detention and relies on support from their church and a fundraising campaign to cover basic expenses.
“My father is a dedicated journalist who is motivated only by his desire to help others in our community,” said Katherine Guevara, his daughter. “For over 50 days, we have been searching for answers while he languishes in detention as punishment for that sense of duty and care. He needs to be allowed to come home to his family immediately.”
Guevara was livestreaming at the June 14 protest when officers singled him out. According to bodycam footage described in the petition, one officer instructed others, “Keep an eye on the guy in the red shirt. If he gets to the road, lock his a** up. He’s been warned multiple times.” Another officer asked, “Press?” and was told, “Yep.” Moments later, Guevara stepped briefly onto the road to avoid obstructing police as they advanced. He was then arrested despite repeatedly identifying himself as a journalist.
The Doraville Police Department charged him with obstruction, unlawful assembly, and being a pedestrian in the roadway. But on June 25, prosecutors dismissed all charges. The dismissal notice stated: “At the time of his arrest, the video evidence shows Mr. Guevara generally in compliance and does not demonstrate the intent to disregard law enforcement directives. Given the lack of a clear criminal intent by Mr. Guevara to ignore any lawful commands, the case is dismissed as charged.”
On June 18, ICE lodged a detainer and transferred Guevara into its custody. The government then pursued a series of arguments to keep him confined, claiming his livestreams compromised officer safety and interfered with operations.
At a July 1 bond hearing, an immigration judge rejected those arguments and ordered his release. The judge found Guevara had no criminal history in 20 years of living in the United States and concluded he posed neither a danger to the community nor a flight risk.
“Respondent has no other criminal history in his twenty years of residing within the United States,” the judge wrote in a decision quoted in the petition. “Respondent in fact has a history of cooperation with law enforcement agencies. In fact, a law enforcement officer, in his personal capacity, believes Respondent to be an asset to the community.” The judge added, “The Court does not find Respondent poses a danger to the community were he to be released.”
The judge also acknowledged the free speech implications. “If Respondent was acting as a journalist, he is protected by freedom of speech as detailed in the Constitution and longstanding, precedential case law,” he wrote.
Despite the ruling, ICE blocked his family’s attempts to pay bond. The agency filed an emergency appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals, which granted a stay on July 7.
In filings, the government asserted that Guevara endangered undercover officers by posting their faces and vehicle license plates online, sometimes to audiences of hundreds of thousands. Prosecutors also alleged he put bystanders at risk by livestreaming while driving.
But the habeas petition points out that all related criminal charges were dismissed by DeKalb and Gwinnett Counties, and that livestreaming public law enforcement activity is constitutionally protected.
“Livestreaming, recording, and publishing videos of law enforcement officers—even when revealing their identities and their vehicles, and even when they are undercover—are protected by the First Amendment,” the filing argues.
The petition also describes how Guevara was transferred multiple times, including to the Atlanta Federal Correctional Institution, where other detainees recognized him from his reporting and extorted him under threat of violence. He has since been returned to Folkston, where he remains in isolation.
The ACLU argues that Guevara’s detention is designed to silence him and send a message to other journalists.
“Journalism is not a threat to the community, it is fundamental to our democracy,” said Cory Isaacson, legal director at the ACLU of Georgia. “Like other Georgia journalists every day, Mario Guevara serves the people of our state with his reporting, and the First Amendment demands that he be able to do so without fear of being locked up in retaliation. Mr. Guevara is detained in violation of his rights to free speech and a free press, and we are hopeful Mr. Guevara will soon be released.”
The petition emphasizes the broader implications: “If the Government is permitted to detain Mr. Guevara on the theory that his reporting is dangerous, it sends a message to all journalists that they too could face retaliatory consequences based on the same theory for reporting or otherwise shining a light on law enforcement activity.”
Supporters say his continued detention has crippled MG News, which has gone from six posts a day to just two or three. Guevara, its founder and lead reporter, is unable to guide staff, communicate with sources, or livestream from the field.
His lawyers say the consequences extend beyond his newsroom. “His detention has also chilled other journalists, especially non-citizen journalists, across the country, who report on law enforcement activity, or are thinking of doing so,” the petition states.
The habeas petition asks the court to issue a writ of habeas corpus ordering Guevara’s release and to declare his detention unconstitutional. It argues that ICE’s actions amount to a prior restraint—preventing him from future reporting—and unlawful retaliation under the First Amendment. It also contends that the detention violates the Fifth Amendment’s due process protections because it serves no legitimate government purpose.
“Mr. Guevara is the canary in the coal mine for journalists reporting nationwide on law enforcement activity,” the petition warns.
The case is pending in the Southern District of Georgia. Guevara remains held at Folkston ICE Processing Center, more than four hours from his family.
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