UPDATE: Reporter Mario Guevara Granted Bail

Update: An immigration judge has granted Mario Guevara bail, according to a Facebook post published by his lawyers and his news outlet, MGNews, on Tuesday morning. “The immigration judge has granted Mario Guevara bail. The immigration process continues, but he is free and in Atlanta,” reads the post.

Mario was arrested by Dekalb County Police on Saturday, June 14, while covering a Stop ICE deportations protest, and charged with improperly entering a pedestrian roadway, obstruction of law enforcement officers, and unlawful assembly. Those charges have since been dropped. He’s also facing charges for traffic violations from the Gwinnett County Police Department;  advocates have been urging community members to call the Gwinnett Solicitor General to drop those charges too. On June 30, 2025, the Gwinnett County Solicitor General’s office issued a press release stating: “I want to be very clear that my office is not involved in the charges referenced and will not be making any decisions related to their pursuit or dismissal.”

Irene Díaz-Bazán, publisher of the local news outlet Prensa Atlanta, visited her friend and fellow reporter Mario Guevara over the weekend, when he was being held at the Folkston ICE Processing Center (FIPC). Irene’s visit to FIPC was as a friend, not as media. She did not record or take notes during her visit. These are her personal reflections after meeting with him. 

This story was first published in Prensa Atlanta. You can read it in Spanish here.

Like a child, he welcomed us.

By: Irene Díaz-Bazán

With a wide smile, a lingering hug, and immense joy. He was there, in a way we never imagined seeing him: dressed in blue, clean, a bit thinner, and deprived of his freedom.

He recounted what these past few days had been like—away from his family, his audience… his community. Unable to report the news, which is what delights him most in his professional life. 

At the Folkston ICE Processing Center in Georgia, about five and a half hours from metro Atlanta, we found our colleague Mario Alexander Guevara. A bit worried about his legal future, the most well-known Hispanic reporter in Atlanta welcomed us in a closed-door facility.

Mario was detained on June 14 while covering a protest march against current immigration policies, never imagining that, within hours, he’d be behind bars. Ten days later, thanks to his attorneys’ intervention, DeKalb County dismissed the charges filed against him. 

With a work permit but no legal status, the Salvadoran journalist had, for years, managed to avoid deportation to his home country. 

But today, he must face justice for other minor traffic offenses filed in Gwinnett County.

When asked what he’s thinking about most now, from his confinement in Folkston, he answered without hesitation: “Hurting my family.”

With a gaze that at times seemed worried, Mario — our colleague and friend — opened his heart to tell us that he sometimes struggles to sleep, and that on the third day of his detention, he felt a strong wave of panic. 

Just days away from his court hearing, on July 1,  where he may either win or lose, Mario Guevara places his trust in the strength of his legal defense and the protection of the Almighty.

He finds comfort in knowing that his family loves him, that hundreds of people have shown him solidarity, and that he still has the strength to endure. 

“Maybe I was reckless and went too far, thinking I was doing good for others,” he told us while devouring the chips Armando Bello had bought him from the vending machine.

 “This is gold to me,” he said. Rafael De J Navarro and I smiled.

After an hour-long visit, we said our goodbyes. I had a lump in my throat, my voice cracking.

He walked us to the door, wanting to go down the hallway with us. But a door closed in his face. He could only wave goodbye through a cloudy window, where his smile began to fade.

“See you soon, Marito,” I told him.