Georgia Journalist Warns He May Not Be the Sole One Deported by Administration Authorities

Mario Guevara has stated he might have been “the initial” immigrant journalist whom Donald Trump’s administration removed from the US while working – however the Emmy award-winner noted: “I don’t believe [I’ll] be the only one.”

“Just be careful because [immigration agents are] very aggressive,” Guevara stated recently from El Salvador in a virtual interview hosted by the press freedom organization, when he was questioned whether he had any message for other immigrant colleagues in the industry. “They showed they are – they don’t care about journalists. They distrust the media.”

He continued: “They think the media [are] against them. They see the media as an adversary … They wield authority. They can do whatever they wish. It can be risky for us.”

Guevara delivered that chilling admonition amid what appeared to be the Salvadorian’s most detailed public comments yet on his situation, which ended with his deportation from the US on 3 October as the government enforcement initiated by Trump during his second term barreled on.

On that weekend, three days after Guevara’s discussion, the reporter from Britain Sami Hamdi was detained by US officials at San Francisco international airport.

A Trump administration spokesperson said Hamdi faced deportation after his detention and visa cancellation – a situation which the advocacy group alleged was retaliation for the Muslim political commentator having criticized Israel while traveling in the US.

“We are journalists – we try to be objective, but sometimes we must cover what is going on,” Guevara explained to the Tracker’s Briana Erickson. “They can think we are against them even if it’s untrue.

“You might face retaliation for that. That was my case. Probably I was the initial case – but I don’t believe [I’ll] be the only one.”

Background and Arrest

Guevara had been recognized in the Atlanta area for more than 20 years, after escaping El Salvador to evade armed groups in 2004. He held a employment authorization, and two of his children are US citizens, when he went to broadcast anti-Trump “No Kings Day” protests in June.

As Guevara described to Erickson, on that day, he reported on an afternoon demonstration outside Atlanta that officials responded to more forcefully than they did an earlier protest which a US citizen colleague chronicled.

“It was a really bad decision for me,” Guevara said, clarifying how an agent who overheard him speaking Spanish into a camera arrested him.

Guevara suggested to the Tracker that he believed his reporting in Spanish at the moment led to his targeting for detention that day. “I saw them watching me,” said Guevara, whose reporting had earned multiple awards and nominations. “Maybe it’s because I’m Hispanic.”

Local prosecutors quickly dismissed the allegations on which Guevara was arrested. But he remained in custody with an immigration judge in 2012 having rejected Guevara’s request to remain in the US on asylum claims.

Guevara had appealed that 2012 decision to a panel which examines immigration rulings. But that case had not been resolved when prosecutors agreed to administratively close Guevara’s case.

Legal Proceedings and Removal

During complex legal proceedings that took place after his arrest, Guevara’s attorneys argued that he had obtained permission to live and work in the US. They also said the purpose of arresting Guevara was to suppress his reporting, which breached his legal protections.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, countered that the sole cause the weight of the government fell on Guevara was because he was in the US without authorization. And the administration – whose president frequently attacks the press – succeeded in reopening Guevara’s old immigration case and eventually deporting him to El Salvador.

Guevara told Erickson that on the evening before his removal he was given 20 minutes to contact the family he was leaving in the US and say goodbye. He said his handling recalled incidents that victimized him while reporting on protests as a journalist in El Salvador before seeking asylum in the US.

“It’s not the way I wanted to come back to my country – deported like a criminal,” Guevara said to Erickson. “I was frustrated, but until the last minute I maintained the belief to remain in the United States because I believe in the fairness of the country.”

Hope and Aftermath

Based on his interview with Erickson, Guevara had not lost hope of one day returning to the US, where he said he had a owned house and was striving for legal permanent residency at the time of his removal.

“I labored hard during the last 20 years,” Guevara said. “I have my own house, my own vehicles, you know – all; my aspirations.

“But in a moment, they altered all for me.”