Atlanta Journalist Detained While Covering a Protest Set To Be Deported, Son Says

Mario Guevara, a prominent Latino journalist in Atlanta, is set to be deported to El Salvador after being arrested while covering a protest in June, his son said.

Oscar Guevara told Noticias Telemundo that his father was taken from Georgia to a detention center in Louisiana, from where he is expected to be removed from the country.

"They are deporting not a criminal but a family man, a worker who was arrested just for doing his job," he said.

"We are devastated, but at least my dad is not dead, and it is the only thing giving us hope," he added while taking to EFE news agency. He expects to travel to El Salvador to meet him.

Guevara's latest request to block his deportation was rejected on Wednesday by an appeals court. The judges dismissed the claim that his arrest, which took place while Guevara was covering an immigration protest, violated his First Amendment rights.

Guevara was charged with obstruction, pedestrian walking in or along a roadway and unlawful assembly when detained in June. A video of his arrest shows him wearing a vest with the word "PRESS" on it and telling an officer that he is a "member of the media."

Back then, immigration officials told Fox 5 Atlanta that Guevara overstayed his visa and was ordered to leave the country by an immigration judge in 2012. His lawyers contend that he is authorized to work in the country.

The Associated Press detailed Guevara fled El Salvador along with his family in 2004 after being beat and threatened over his work as a political reported. In the U.S., he worked for the largest Spanish-speaking outlet, Mundo Hispanico, before launching his own outlet, MGNews.