Atlanta, July 22, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists and partners on Tuesday called on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release Atlanta-based journalist Mario Guevara, who has been in jail since his June 14, 2025, arrest, despite the dropping of all charges against him and an immigration judge ordering his release on bail.
An Emmy-winning, Spanish-language journalist, Guevara was arrested on First Amendment-related charges— that Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of the press — while livestreaming a “No Kings” protest against the Trump administration in a suburb of Atlanta.
“It is imperative that journalist Mario Guevara be released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention without delay,” said CPJ U.S., Canada, and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “With Guevara unable to report, a vital perspective on immigration issues has been lost. Guevara’s ongoing detention under the threat of deportation is a gross overreach of ICE authority and a crude form of censorship.”
Representatives from the advocacy group Free Press, the Georgia First Amendment Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Georgia, Guevara’s lawyer, Giovanni Diaz, the journalist’s son and daughter, Oscar and Katherine Guevara, and CPJ Regional Director, Americas, José Zamora also spoke at Tuesday’s news conference at the Georgia State House.
Speakers made the following comments:
- “We’re living in a climate of fear and retribution in which our community ties weaken and truth is undermined as the bedrock of our democracy,” said Nora Benavidez, Free Press’s senior counsel and director of digital justice and civil rights. “Mr. Guevara’s case is just the tip of the spear. So in pushing back today, we are not just calling for Mr. Guevara’s immediate release. His detention sends a chilling message to anyone who might want to exercise their rights. And it’s a rejection of the premise this country was founded on: to give people agency, dignity, autonomy and freedom to challenge those in power.”
- “We are stuck in a nightmare,” said Katherine Guevara, Mario’s daughter. “We don’t know how to explain how something like this could even happen. The pain we feel is indescribable. This is not just about one journalist. This is about what kind of country we want to be.”
- “The protections of the First Amendment extend to everyone regardless of citizenship status,” said Andrés M. López-Delgado, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Georgia. “The ACLU of Georgia is deeply concerned about Mario’s case and what it means for where we’re headed as a state and as a country. Journalists should not have to be concerned that they will face deportation or other retaliation when they are just trying to do their jobs reporting on matters of grave and deep public concern.”
On June 25, three initial charges of unlawful assembly, obstruction, and being a pedestrian on the roadway were dismissed due to insufficient evidence. On July 10, the remaining three charges that were filed after Guevara was already in ICE detention — reckless driving, failure to obey traffic signs, and unlawful use of a telecommunication device — were also dismissed due to insufficient evidence and legal deficiencies.
Guevara is currently the only journalist in custody in the U.S. whose arrest was in relation to his work.
Guevara has lawfully resided in the U.S. for over 20 years and developed a large following in the Atlanta area, as well as national recognition, for his reporting on immigration issues. He frequently filmed ICE and law enforcement raids.
See CPJ’s timeline of Guevara’s arrest and detention proceedings here.