Salvadoran journalist Mario Guevara said Friday he was deported from the United States for reporting on the unjust arrests of migrants under President Donald Trump. Guevara, who was living in the United States without residency documents or a valid visa, was detained in June in the southern state of Georgia while livestreaming on his MG News digital channel a protest against Trump’s immigration policies.
“I was not deported for being a criminal,” said the 48-year-old journalist upon returning to El Salvador, visibly exhausted and teary-eyed. “That’s what caused my deportation: reporting the injustices, the unjust [migrant] arrests they were carrying out,” he maintained.
Illegal immigrant
In an email sent Friday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) called Guevara an “illegal immigrant” with a deportation order pending from an immigration judge since 2012. Guevara arrived in El Salvador without luggage, carrying only the helmet and protective vest labeled “Press” that he wore when he was detained on June 14 in the Atlanta area.
He was deported along with 117 other Salvadoran citizens. El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, an ally of Trump, sparked outrage after holding a group of deported Venezuelans for months in a mega-prison built for gang members.
Guevara said everyone on the plane was handcuffed and showed the reddish marks left on his wrists. In an unusual move, authorities removed Guevara from the international airport serving San Salvador separately from the rest of the deportees and transferred him to the nearby town of Olocuilta, where family members awaited him.
His father, Rodil Gómez, 68, said he was “happy” to see his son arrive in good health.
Stone in the shoe
Guevara entered the United States in April 2004 on a tourist visa. He kept a work permit, he said. He later tried to obtain legal residency with the support of one of his three children, all U.S. citizens. But at the time of his arrest in Georgia he had not succeeded, according to court documents.
In June 2012, an immigration judge denied Guevara’s asylum application (filed in 2005) due, among other reasons, to its late submission. On September 19, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decided, after 13 years, to reopen Guevara’s immigration case and ordered his deportation.
“The Donald Trump government kicked me out claiming I was a stone in their shoe,” Guevara said, lamenting that U.S. authorities did not give him the chance to stay.
In the email about Guevara’s case, DHS said: “If someone comes to our country and violates our laws, we will arrest them and NEVER return.”
Worrying signal
Specialized in immigration issues, Guevara won an Emmy in 2023 for his coverage. In the United States, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Friday this is “the first time that this type of retaliation related to journalistic activity has been documented.”
According to CPJ representative Katherine Jacobsen, “this is not simply about his immigration status,” but “retaliation for his journalistic work.” This measure represents “a worrying signal of the deterioration of press freedom under the Trump administration,” she commented.
Authorities detained Guevara near Atlanta on June 14 while he covered the “No Kings” demonstrations, the largest popular mobilization since Trump returned to the White House in January. He was initially charged with misdemeanors related to his work (unlawful assembly, obstruction, pedestrian in roadway, etc.).
Those charges were later dropped, according to court documents.
