Daughter of detained reporter calls his possible deportation ‘terrifying’

Guevara’s case has drawn widespread attention, including from an international nonprofit that defends the rights of journalists.

In a statement, Katherine Jacobsen, with the Committee to Protect Journalists, said she was “outraged” by Guevara’s treatment and called for his immediate release.

Jacobsen called his detention “a crude form of censorship.”

At a news conference Tuesday in Cobb County, Guevara’s daughter, Katherine Guevara, 27, said it was “terrifying” to learn that ICE had detained her father.

“We’ve always been very, very close. And I just couldn’t believe it,” she said.

Guevara’s lawyers denounced his arrest.

“I believe he was arrested unjustly,” said attorney Giovanni Diaz.

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Last Saturday, the Salvadoran native was covering a DeKalb County protest against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and wound up livestreaming his own arrest. Police charged him with three misdemeanors for his behavior — obstruction of law enforcement, unlawful assembly and pedestrian walking on or along a roadway — and booked him into DeKalb County Jail.

In arrest warrants obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Doraville police claimed the journalist ignored repeated instructions to stay off the street and to leave the site of the protest after it had been declared an unlawful assembly.

According to police, Guevara was part of a large group walking on Chamblee Tucker Road toward I-285. The group tried to physically push past law enforcement officers, but were stopped, police said.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

“Officers gave orders to disperse, then told the group that assembly was unlawful, and the officers then deployed (tear) gas. Officers then herded the group out of the roadway to a Kroger parking lot, then ordered the group to disperse,” the arrest warrant read.

“Instead, (Guevara) re-entered the roadway, trying to livestream the event on his phone. When told to go back, (Guevara) did so, but then again entered the roadway and filmed the event,” the warrant said.

In Diaz’s view, Guevara’s livestream shows him acting compliant and respectful around law enforcement.

“He didn’t do anything illegal. The only thing he was doing was documenting the police’s actions. So, why was he arrested?” he said. “He has always complied with the law. His record is impeccable in this country. So, this arrest is concerning.”

Guevara’s attorneys secured a bond from a local judge, but the journalist remains in detention because ICE lodged what is known as a “detainer.”

Detainers are often the first step in deportation proceedings for immigrants who are in the country without permanent legal status.

Diaz said that, although Guevara has work authorization and a path to a green card through his U.S. citizen son, he still lacks permanent legal status in the country.

Back in 2012, a court had denied Guevara’s application for asylum and ordered him deported, but the journalist went on to benefit from administrative closure, a legal procedure that allows an immigration judge to temporarily suspend removal proceedings.

ICE detainers are not warrants, and individual jails can decide not to honor them and release immigrant detainees before the 48 hours requested by ICE are up.

In the past, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office has taken steps to limit their compliance with ICE detainers under certain conditions.

But it seems DeKalb is complying with the ICE detainer in Guevara’s case, his attorneys said. If ICE agents pick up Guevara, he will likely be transferred to one of South Georgia’s immigrant detention centers to face deportation.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Katherine Guevara told reporters Tuesday night that her family thought Guevara would likely be able to come home the day after his arrest, which was Father’s Day.

“So, we had gone and decorated, like, for Father’s Day, the kitchen and everything. We had made it all cute and made his favorite, desserts and stuff … I ordered a cake and everything,” she said.

“And then just to find out that it wasn’t going to happen … it was very, very sad. We just had to bring everything down and cancel the cake order and everything.”

Alondra Madrigal is a journalist who had recently been hired by Guevara to assist him in his coverage.

“We want him back. We want him on the streets reporting ICE raids, obviously in a safer manner,” she said. “He speaks out for so many people who don’t have a voice. And we need more people like him in our community.”