The journalist declared he could have been “the initial” immigrant journalist whom Donald Trump’s administration deported from the United States while working – however the Emmy award-winner added: “I don’t believe [I’ll] be the only one.”
“Just exercise caution because [immigration agents are] extremely forceful,” Guevara recently said from El Salvador in a virtual interview hosted by the press freedom organization, during which he was questioned whether he had any message for other colleagues from abroad in the industry. “They demonstrated they are – they have no regard for journalists. They don’t believe in the media.”
He added: “They think the media [are] against them. They view the media as an enemy … They wield authority. They can do everything they want. It can be risky for us.”
Guevara issued that sobering admonition amid what seemed like the journalist’s most extensive public comments yet on his case, which culminated in his deportation from the US on 3 October as the federal immigration crackdown initiated by Trump during his second term barreled on.
On that weekend, three days after Guevara’s discussion, the British journalist Sami Hamdi was arrested by federal immigration authorities at San Francisco airport.
A Trump administration official said Hamdi was slated for removal after his detention and visa cancellation – a situation which the Council on American-Islamic Relations claimed was retaliation for the commentator’s having spoken against Israel while touring the US.
“We are journalists – we try to be objective, but sometimes we have to report what is happening,” Guevara explained to the Tracker’s Briana Erickson. “They can think we are opposing them even if it’s untrue.
“You can have backlash for that. That happened to me. Probably I was the initial case – but I don’t believe [I’ll] be the only one.”
Background and Arrest
Guevara had been well-known in the Atlanta area for more than 20 years, after fleeing El Salvador to avoid leftist militias in 2004. He held a employment authorization, and two of his children are US citizens, when he headed out to broadcast anti-Trump “No Kings Day” protests in June.
As Guevara recounted to Erickson, on that day, he covered an daytime demonstration outside Atlanta that authorities greeted more aggressively than they did an earlier protest which a US citizen fellow journalist documented.
“It was a poor decision for me,” Guevara said, clarifying how an agent who heard him speaking Spanish into a camera detained him.
Guevara implied to the Tracker that he believed his reporting in Spanish at the moment led to his targeting for arrest that day. “I saw them watching me,” said Guevara, whose journalism had earned multiple awards and honors. “Maybe it’s because I’m Latino.”
Local prosecutors quickly dismissed the allegations on which Guevara was arrested. But he stayed detained with an court in 2012 having rejected Guevara’s request to remain in the US on grounds of asylum.
Guevara had challenged that 2012 decision to a panel which reviews immigration rulings. But that appeal had not been decided when officials agreed to administratively close Guevara’s case.
Legal Proceedings and Removal
During complicated court processes that took place after his arrest, Guevara’s attorneys argued that he had obtained permission to reside and work in the US. They also said the intent of arresting Guevara was to silence his journalism, which violated his legal protections.
The government, in response, countered that the sole cause the weight of the government targeted Guevara was because he was in the US without authorization. And the government – whose president frequently wages war against the media – managed to reviving Guevara’s prior case and eventually deporting him to El Salvador.
Guevara informed Erickson that on the night before his removal he was given 20 minutes to contact the family he was parting from in the US and bid farewell. He said his treatment reminded him of incidents that harmed him while reporting on protests as a journalist in El Salvador before seeking asylum in the US.
“It’s not the way I wanted to return to my country – deported like a criminal,” Guevara said to Erickson. “I was frustrated, but until the last minute I still had the hope to stay in the United States because I trust the fairness of the country.”
Hope and Future
Based on his conversation with Erickson, Guevara had not given up hope of one day coming back to the US, where he said he had a owned house and was striving for legal permanent residency at the time of his removal.
“I worked a lot during the last 20 years,” Guevara said. “I have my own house, my own vehicles, you know – everything; my American dream.
“But in a instant, they changed everything for me.”
