Lawyers ask judge to order ICE to free Spanish-language journalist from immigration detention

Atlanta, Aug 21 (AP) Lawyers for a Spanish-language journalist who has been held in federal immigration detention since June argue in a court filing that the government is retaliating against him for his news coverage and is holding him in violation of his constitutional rights.
    Local police in DeKalb County, just outside Atlanta, arrested Mario Guevara while he was covering a protest June 14, and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement took custody of him a few days later. He is being held in an immigration detention centre in Folkston, in southeast Georgia, a five-hour drive from his family in suburban Atlanta.
    A petition filed in federal court late Wednesday says the government is violating Guevara's constitutional rights to free speech and due process. It argues that he is being punished for filming police, which is legal, and that he is being subjected to unlawful prior restraint because he's unable to report while in custody.
    The filing asks the court to order his release “so that he may rejoin his family and community and pursue his constitutionally protected journalistic activities.”
    The filing names Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, US Attorney General Pam Bondi and top ICE officials.
    “Accusations that Mario Guevara was arrested by ICE because he is a journalist are completely FALSE,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in an emailed statement.

    Guevara's work as a journalist
    Guevara, 47, fled his native El Salvador two decades ago because he had suffered violence and harassment there for his work as a journalist. He has continued to work as a journalist since arriving in the Atlanta area. He attracted a large following while working for years for Mundo Hispanico, a Spanish-language newspaper, before starting a digital news outlet called MG News a year ago.
    He frequently arrives on the scene where ICE or other law enforcement agencies are active, often acting on tips from community members. He regularly livestreams what he's seeing on social media.
    McLaughlin, the DHS spokesperson, said Guevara was placed in deportation proceedings because he is in the country illegally.
    His lawyers have said he is authorized to work and remain in the US. A previous immigration case against him was administratively closed more than a decade ago. He has a pending visa petition and is eligible for a green card, the court filing says.
    He was livestreaming video on social media from a “No Kings” rally protesting President Donald Trump's administration when Doraville police arrested him.
    Video from his arrest shows Guevara wearing a bright red shirt under a protective vest with “PRESS” printed across his chest. He could be heard telling a police officer, “I'm a member of the media, officer.” He was standing on a sidewalk with other journalists, with no sign of big crowds or confrontations around him, moments before he was taken away.
    Police charged Guevara with unlawful assembly, obstruction of police and being a pedestrian on or along the roadway. His lawyers worked to get him released and he was granted bond in DeKalb County, but ICE had put a hold on him and he was held until they came to pick him up.
    DeKalb County Solicitor-General Donna Coleman-Stribling on June 25 dismissed the charges, saying video showed Guevara was “generally in compliance and does not demonstrate the intent to disregard law enforcement directives.”
    The sheriff's office in neighbouring Gwinnett County announced June 20, once Guevara was already in ICE custody, that it had secured warrants against him on charges of distracted driving, failure to obey a traffic control device and reckless driving. Gwinnett County Solicitor-General Lisamarie Bristol announced July 10 that she would not pursue those charges.
    An immigration judge last month set a USD 7,500 bond for Guevara, but that order has been put on hold while the government appeals it. (AP)
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)