Salvadoran Journalist Mario Guevara Marks Over 100 Days in U.S. Detention

Mario Guevara reaches 100 days in detention

Imminent deportation worries family

ACLU denounces arbitrary detention

According to the EFE agency, the family of Salvadoran journalist Mario Guevara expressed concern this Tuesday as his detention in a US immigration jail surpassed one hundred days.

The reporter, arrested on June 14, faces a deportation process that becomes more complicated as the weeks go by.

“Our hearts ache every day he spends away from us,” said his son, Oscar Guevara, during a press conference alongside his lawyers.

The possibility of avoiding his expulsion grows slimmer each day, according to his legal representatives.

Imminent Deportation and Legal Obstacles

Today marks 100 days of journalist Mario Guevara’s detention. Guevara, the only journalist behind bars in the U.S. for his journalism, faces the very real threat of deportation for doing his job, despite having legal status.

The government has argued that Mario Guevara poses a… pic.twitter.com/yI2KgxjHOh

— Committee to Protect Journalists (@pressfreedom) September 22, 2025

Scarlet Kim, lead attorney for the ACLU Privacy Project, warned that the journalist’s deportation is imminent.

Only a federal court order could stop his immediate removal to El Salvador.

The case, which had been suspended since 2012, was reopened by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).

The BIA’s decision overturned a process that years earlier had allowed him to remain in the country after losing an asylum case.

Lawyers Denounce Political Bias in Mario Guevara’s Case

Salvadoran Journalist Mario Guevara Marks Over 100 Days in US Detention – PHOTO: EFE

The Board also rejected the lawyers’ request to evaluate an adjustment of immigration status.

The defense argued that Mario Guevara is the father of a US citizen who depends on him for long-term medical care.

However, the BIA refused even to grant him bond to fight his case in freedom.

Immigration attorney Giovanni Díaz said he was surprised by the decision and described it as contradictory to judicial precedents.

Mario Guevara Faces a Complex Process

Mario Guevara detention case – Photo: EFE

“Unfortunately, this case seems to highlight another trend: the Board of Immigration Appeals and immigration courts are politically compromised,” Díaz stressed.

The defense believes that judicial decisions in Mario Guevara’s case reflect a broader pattern of political hardening on immigration issues.

The current ruling even contradicts a previous order by an immigration judge who had granted the journalist’s release.

This unexpected reversal worsens the legal difficulties of a case that once seemed to hold promise for the defense.

Family Concern and Legal Resources

Mario Guevara has lived in the United States since 2004 and has three children, two of them US citizens.

One of his children depends on him to access long-term medical treatments.

The journalist was arrested while covering a protest by the “No Kings” movement in Georgia.

According to his lawyers, he was fully identified as a member of the press at the time of his detention.