Mario Guevara’s detention is retaliation for covering immigration raids and law enforcement operations.

On Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a habeas corpus petition — the legal principle that protects individuals against arbitrary detention — in the case of Salvadoran journalist Mario Guevara.

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On July 1, an immigration judge granted Guevara release on bond, but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has refused to free him, claiming he poses a danger to the community, specifically because he livestreams and reports on law enforcement activities and immigration raids.

In its habeas petition, the ACLU warned that documenting law enforcement activity is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

“Mario Guevara is detained solely for his journalism, specifically for livestreaming immigration officials and other law enforcement officers,” said Scarlet Kim, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project.

She emphasized that Guevara’s unlawful detention sends an alarming message to other journalists, particularly non-U.S. citizens, that they too may face retaliation if they report on public officials.

“We are asking the court to reject this blatant suppression of protected press activity and to order Mr. Guevara’s immediate release,” Kim said.

Guevara has lived in the United States since 2004. He has three children, two of them U.S. citizens, including one who depends on him for long-term medical care.

On June 14, Guevara was arrested on three misdemeanor charges in Doraville, in the northeastern Atlanta metropolitan area, while covering a protest organized by the “No Kings” movement, despite being fully identified as a member of the press for his outlet MG News.

The reporter was also charged in neighboring Gwinnett County with reckless driving and other minor offenses related to a May incident. Charges in both jurisdictions were dismissed, but his deportation case has continued.

The Salvadoran journalist, who has been held in five different detention centers, says he is being persecuted for carrying out his “journalistic work covering operations in the streets.” Guevara is currently the only journalist detained in the United States after reporting on domestic events.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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