Mario Guevara declared he could have been “the first” immigrant journalist that Donald Trump’s administration deported from the United States while working – however the Emmy award-winner noted: “I don’t believe [I’ll] be the lone case.”
“Just exercise caution because [immigration agents are] extremely forceful,” Guevara recently said from El Salvador in a online discussion with the US Freedom of the Press Tracker, during which he was questioned whether he had any message for other colleagues from abroad in the field. “They demonstrated they are – they don’t care about journalists. They don’t believe in the media.”
He continued: “They believe the media [are] against them. They see the media as an adversary … They wield authority. They are able to do everything they want. It can be risky for us.”
Guevara delivered that sobering admonition amid what seemed like the Salvadorian’s most detailed public remarks yet on his situation, which culminated in his deportation from the US on 3 October as the government enforcement pursued by Trump during his second term continued.
On that weekend, three days following Guevara’s interview, the British journalist Sami Hamdi was detained by US officials at San Francisco international airport.
A Trump administration spokesperson said Hamdi was slated for removal after his detention and visa cancellation – a plight which the advocacy group alleged was retaliation for the Muslim political commentator having spoken against Israel while traveling in the US.
“We are journalists – we aim to be impartial, but sometimes we have to report what is going on,” Guevara explained to the organization’s Briana Erickson. “They can think we are opposing them even if it’s not true.
“You might face backlash for that. That happened to me. Perhaps I was the first one – but I don’t think [I’ll] be the only one.”
History and Detention
Guevara had been well-known in the Georgia area for more than 20 years, after fleeing El Salvador to avoid leftist militias in 2004. He possessed a work permit, and two of his children are US citizens, when he headed out to broadcast anti-Trump “No Kings Day” protests in June.
As Guevara described to Erickson, on that day, he covered an afternoon protest outside Atlanta that officials responded to more forcefully than they did an earlier protest which a US citizen colleague documented.
“It was a poor decision for me,” Guevara said, explaining how an agent who overheard him using Spanish into a camera detained him.
Guevara implied to the Tracker that he believed his Spanish-language coverage at the moment led to his targeting for arrest that day. “I saw them watching me,” said Guevara, whose reporting had earned multiple regional Emmy prizes and nominations. “Maybe it’s because I’m Hispanic.”
Local prosecutors dropped the allegations on which Guevara was arrested. But he remained in custody with an immigration judge in 2012 having rejected Guevara’s bid to remain in the US on grounds of asylum.
Guevara had appealed that 2012 decision to a body which reviews immigration decisions. But that case had not been decided when prosecutors agreed to dismiss Guevara’s case.
Legal Proceedings and Deportation
During complex legal proceedings that unfolded after his arrest, Guevara’s lawyers argued that he had obtained permission to reside and work in the US. They also said the intent of arresting Guevara was to silence his journalism, which breached his constitutional rights.
The government, meanwhile, argued that the only reason the force of the government targeted Guevara was because he was in the US without authorization. And the administration – whose leader frequently attacks the media – managed to reviving Guevara’s prior case and eventually deporting him to El Salvador.
Guevara informed Erickson that on the night before his removal he was given 20 minutes to call the relatives he was parting from in the US and bid farewell. He said his handling reminded him of attacks 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 return to my country – deported like a criminal,” Guevara said to Erickson. “I was frustrated, but up to the end I still had the hope to remain in the United States because I believe in the fairness of the country.”
Optimism and Aftermath
Based on his interview with Erickson, Guevara had not given up 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 deportation.
“I worked a lot during the last 20 years,” Guevara said. “I have my own house, my own cars, you know – all; my American dream.
“But in a instant, they altered everything for me.”
