Reporter Mario Guevara to be freed from ICE detention, still faces deportation

Lautaro Grinspan, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Jul 1, 2025

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ATLANTA — Mario Guevara reportedly will be released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody Tuesday night.

The metro Atlanta-based reporter was granted a $7,500 bond following a court hearing on Tuesday, family members told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His arrest and nearly two-week stint in ICE detention garnered headlines nationwide, and drew the attention of U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.

Guevara, an immigrant from El Salvador, 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, a Spanish-language publication.

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 in DeKalb County Jail triggered a detainer request from federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who picked him up 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.

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 wrote on Monday in a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.

Guevara had already 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.