A Spanish-language journalist known for livestreaming immigration raids was deported on Friday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after being held for more than 100 days in Georgia.
The reporter, Mario Guevara, was flown to his native El Salvador around 4 a.m., according to the Committee to Protect Journalists and the American Civil Liberties Union, which condemned the action by the Trump administration.
Speaking to a group of reporters in Olocuilta, El Salvador, where he emerged from a Salvadoran border patrol pickup, Mr. Guevara said that he was heartbroken because half of his family was in the United States, including his wife and three children.
Mr. Guevara said that he had lost more than 25 pounds during his more than three months in custody and had marks from being kept in handcuffs “like a criminal” during his deportation.
“This was not how I wanted to come to my land, but thank you, God,” Mr. Guevara said.
On June 14, Mr. Guevara was arrested while livestreaming a “No Kings” protest against the Trump administration’s policies that was taking place outside Atlanta. Charges filed in connection to his arrest were dropped, his lawyers said.
Press freedom groups and civil liberties activists had spent months pushing for Mr. Guevara’s release, accusing the Trump administration of trying to suppress independent journalism and coverage that it deemed unflattering.
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