Journalist Mario Guevara was deported to El Salvador on Friday, October 3, after being held in custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for more than 100 days. He was arrested in June while live streaming a “No Kings” event (an anti-authoritarian movement) near Atlanta.
US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed Guevara’s deportation and told Newsweek in an email on Saturday, “This illegal alien was granted voluntary departure in 2012. He refused to depart and was given a final order of removal from an immigration judge in 2012. On October 3, ICE removed him to El Salvador. If you come to our country and break our laws, we will arrest you, and you will NEVER return.”
Guevara, 48, a Salvadoran livestreamer with more than 800,000 Facebook followers, fled El Salvador with his family to the United States for political safety in 2004 and has documented several immigration raids during the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump has vowed to launch the largest mass deportation campaign in US history and has issued multiple executive orders and policies since taking office, and ICE has detained thousands of immigrants living in the country illegally and legally with valid documents, including green cards and visas. In May, the Trump administration repeatedly urged people without proper documentation to self-deport.
Newsweek reported that the 48-year-old was arrested on June 14 for obstructing police, unlawful assembly, and improperly entering a roadway.
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Guevara immigrated with his family to Georgia, United States, where he worked as a reporter for the state’s largest Spanish-language newspaper, Mundo Hispanico, before launching his own online news site, award-winning MGNews.
Guevara, who has built a large following and garnered attention as a journalist in the United States, often covers stories about immigration.