ICE Rejected Bond Payment From Latino Journalist Detained White Covering a Protest

A Latino journalist arrested while covering a protest against ICE last month is still in custody despite being granted bond earlier this month.

Concretely, The Associated Press reported that ICE didn't accept the $7,500 bond that Mario Guevara sought to pay, and that he has been taken to three different jails over the past days.

"We are of the opinion that there seems to be a concerted effort between different jurisdictions to keep him detained," said Guevara's lawyer, Giovanni Diaz.

The lawyer added that the bond payment wouldn't go through after being granted by a judge. After ICE refused to take an in-person payment, Diaz said he learned that the agency was challenging the release to the Board of Immigration Appeals and asked to put it on hold while the action is pending.

Guevara was charged with obstruction, pedestrian walking in or along a roadway and unlawful assembly. 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."

Federal officials placed a hold on his detention at the county jail, meaning they would seek to take him into custody after being released. He was effectively taken to a detention center in Folkston on June 18 after exiting the DeKalb jail.

Immigration officials have also told Fox 5 Atlanta that Guevara has 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. Despite his release he could still be deported to El Salvador, Axios noted.