The family of Salvadoran journalist Mario Guevara said on Tuesday, September 23, that they are worried because the journalist has been detained for more than 100 days in an immigration jail and the possibilities of avoiding deportation are increasingly reduced.
“Our hearts ache every day he is away from us,” said his son, Oscar Guevara at a press conference along with his lawyers to explain the delicate situation faced by the detained communicator since last June 14.
Mario Guevara has been detained for more than 100 days
CPJ and @freepress led a coalition of 28 organizations in a joint statement calling for journalist Mario Guevara’s immediate release from ICE custody after 100 days in detention since his arrest. He is the only known journalist behind bars in the U.S. for his reporting.
Read… pic.twitter.com/LN1yAG87az
– Committee to Protect Journalists (@pressfreedom) September 23, 2025
Scarlet Kim, senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Privacy Project, warned that the journalist’s deportation is imminent.
Kim also said that only a federal court order could stop his removal from the country.
Over the days Guevara’s case has become more complicated, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) ruled against the Salvadoran journalist by reopening his deportation process that had been suspended in 2012, when he lost an asylum case.
The board also denied a request by Mario Guevara’s attorneys to have an immigration judge consider an application for adjustment of status because he is the father of a U.S. citizen who is dependent on him.
The BIA also refused to grant bail so that the communicator could fight his case at liberty.
Lawyer is surprised with the ruling
Giovanni Diaz, Guevara’s immigration attorney, said at the conference that he was “surprised” by the ruling.
He said the ruling runs counter to previous rulings in similar cases, which ruled in favor of immigrants who demonstrated a “strong likelihood” of obtaining immigration relief.
“Unfortunately, this case seems to highlight another trend: the Board of Immigration Appeals and the immigration courts are politically compromised,” Diaz stressed.
The board’s decision also contradicts a previous ruling by an immigration judge who ordered that the journalist be released.
Mario Guevara has lived in the United States since 2004.
He has three children, two of whom are U.S. citizens and one of whom depends on him for long-term medical care.
The journalist was arrested on minor charges while covering a protest by the ‘No Kings’ movement in a Georgia city.
This despite the fact that he was fully identified as a member of the press while covering for his MG News channel.
Kim called Guevara’s detention an attack on the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Last month, the ACLU filed a petition for habeas corpus, the legal principle that protects people against arbitrary detention, on Guevara’s behalf, alleging that the journalist’s stay in the immigration jail is illegal.
The ACLU has filed an emergency motion with the federal court to stop the journalist’s removal to El Salvador.
With information from EFE
