Mario Guevara, a Spanish language journalist who runs MGNews, was ordered by the Board of Immigration Appeals on Friday to be deported to El Salvador.
After the decision, the American Civil Liberties Union called for his immediate release from detention and flagged concerns for his safety if he is deported.
“Mr. Guevara should not even be in immigration detention, but the government has kept him there for months because of his crucial reporting on law enforcement activity, said Scarlet Kim, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project. “The fact that he may now be put on a plane to El Salvador, a country he fled out of fear, at any moment, despite a clear path to becoming a permanent resident is despicable. The court must ensure he is not deported and should order his release from detention immediately.”
Georgia lawmakers also raised concerns about what this decision means for freedom of the press.
“We should understand Mario Guevara’s detention and deportation and intimidation as part of this larger picture of the Trump administration taking actions against free speech in this country and creating one of the most dangerous environments for free speech that we’ve ever seen in American history,” said Democratic State Sen. Joshua McLaurin.
