By Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg

Copyright truthout

The Board of Immigration Appeals has ordered Emmy-award winning journalist Mario Guevara to be deported to El Salvador, a country he fled more than two decades ago after being persecuted for his reporting.

On Friday, Chief Appellate Immigration Judge Garry D. Malphrus, Appellate Immigration Judge Marcos Gemoets, and Temporary Appellate Immigration Judge Paul A. McCloskey — all appointed by Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi — handed down the deportation order.

Guevara’s attorneys were granted an emergency hearing in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. The court didn’t issue a decision but asked for further briefing. In the meantime, Mario Guevara is still at risk of being sent to El Salvador.

The journalist’s supporters, including Georgia lawmakers, say the Trump administration is targeting Guevara because of his reporting on immigration raids.

“This is yet another example of the Trump administration’s pervasive attempts to stifle journalists and media from doing honest reporting or speaking unfavorably about the administration,” State Sen. Josh McLaurin (D) said in a statement. “This is one of the most dangerous periods for free speech in American history.”

Cory Isaacson, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Georgia, said it will be “devastating” if Guevara is deported. Guevara is represented by the ACLU and the state affiliate, the ACLU of Georgia.

“The immediate release of Mr. Guevara is the only way to correct this injustice that has immeasurably harmed his wellbeing and the wellbeing of his family, the community and the people of Georgia,” Isaacson said in a statement. “In a democracy, journalists should not be arrested for exercising their constitutional rights to report the news.”

In June, officers arrested Guevara while he was reporting on a “No Kings” protest in DeKalb County, Georgia. About a minute before his arrest, an officer told the other officers to “Keep an eye on the guy in the red shirt. If he gets to the road, lock his a** up. . .. He’s been warned multiple times,” according to his habeas petition. Another officer asked, “Press?” The first officer replied, “Yep.” He was arrested when he stepped off the sidewalk to move out of the way of officers coming through the area.

Although all charges were dropped, he has remained in ICE custody. DHS previously told Truthout in an email that Guevara has been detained because he entered the country illegally in 2004. This is false.

The judge who granted Guevara bond in July wrote that he “has a history of following the laws of the United States, as he legally entered the U.S. with a B1 visa, he has employment authorization and a social security number so that he can legally work in the United States, and he has a history of paying his taxes.”

Prosecutors successfully obtained a stay, or pause, of the bond decision. The government has argued that Guevara “is a danger to the community because Mr. Guevara had ‘on five separate occasions … recorded or live streamed’ law enforcement officers and ‘post[ed] videos of undercover agents, their vehicles, and tag numbers,’” as per Guevara’s petition. “The Government further states that ‘[l]ocal law enforcement reviewed the respondent’s public posts and learned that the videos were viewed by hundreds of thousands of people.’”

Guevero told The Altanta-Journal Constitution in a phone interview that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is retaliating against him because, “I was following them. I was showing their faces when they were arresting immigrants.” He said while he’s been locked up, some officers have said to him, “You gave me a hard time, Mario. Hey, remember me?”

The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have condemned the court’s deportation order. SPJ said in a statement that the decision is “a chilling signal to every reporter in this country: If your coverage makes the government uncomfortable, you could be silenced.”

“SPJ stands firmly with Mario Guevara and calls for his immediate release and the restoration of his ability to remain in the United States,” the group continued. “Deporting him under these circumstances would undermine the First Amendment, erode public trust and set a dangerous precedent for all who believe in a free press.”

Today marks Guevara’s 100th day in detention. For much of that time he has been held in solitary confinement. On Friday, The Bitter Southerner published an essay by Guevara detailing the devastating impact his incarceration has had on himself, his career, and his family. The news outlet he founded, MGNews, is on the verge of bankruptcy. He’s experienced panic attacks and sunk into a depression.

“But I have to remain strong and confident that the United States still has some caring and decency left and that in the end justice will prevail,” he wrote. “Hopefully, soon all my tears and my family’s tears will be wiped away, and we can have fun and smile, triumphant, as we did before, together and in absolute freedom.”