ICE Targets El Salvadorian Reporter After Being Arrested While Covering Georgia Protest Against Deportations

The Trump administration is seeking to deport Mario Guevara, an Atlanta-based journalist and El Salvador native who was arrested while covering protests in Georgia against the president's immigration policies.

Guevara, who operates the Mario Guevara News channel, was one of eight people arrested during a protest in DeKalb County on Saturday, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The independent journalist had been livestreaming the rally to thousands of viewers on social media before being charged with obstruction of law enforcement, unlawful assembly and walking on or along a roadway as he attempted to get closer to the action for his audience.

Although Guevara does not have permanent legal status, he reportedly holds work authorization and is pursuing a green card through his U.S. citizen son. His attorney successfully petitioned for bond in DeKalb County Magistrate Court, only to learn afterward that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had issued a detainer against him.

An ICE detainer, which is the first step in the deportation process, is a request for local jails to hold individuals up to 48 hours beyond their scheduled release so federal immigration authorities can take custody. Its issuance indicates that the federal government believes Guevara is eligible for deportation to El Salvador.

"You can imagine with this administration, they always reserve the right to put an ICE hold on anybody that is technically not a legal permanent resident, regardless of whether or not they have work authorization," Giovanni Diaz, Guevara's attorney, told the outlet.

Diaz said he is preparing for the possibility that DeKalb authorities may hold Guevara long enough for him to be transferred to ICE custody, where he could face deportation. Despite that risk, Guevara told the AJC this spring that he would continue reporting.

"My lawyers are asking me to tone it down, to not be so aggressive," Guevara told the AJC at the time. "I'm acting as if I were a citizen ... but I'm not scared."