'Direct retaliation': Hispanic journalist detained by ICE speaks out
(Atlanta Journal-Constitution) Mario Guevara spent the bulk of his days as a journalist in constant movement, trawling through Hispanic enclaves throughout metro Atlanta to document immigration arrests and their emotional aftermath. Hundreds of thousands of Spanish-language users on social media tuned in to his coverage of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
Now, Guevara finds himself in stasis, locked in solitary confinement in the bowels of the sprawling ICE detention network and facing deportation to El Salvador.
To pass the time in his windowless cell, Guevara paces, sings and reads his Bible. He said he is allowed out for only two hours per day.
“I’m emotionally destroyed,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution from the Folkston ICE Processing Center, an immigration detention facility near the Florida border. The reporter’s time in ICE custody recently crossed the one-month mark.
https://www.ajc.com/news/2025/07/direct-retaliation-hispanic-journalist-detained-by-ice-speaks-out/