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Friend,
On June 14, ICE agents detained journalist Mario Guevara while he was reporting on a No Kings Day protest in Atlanta.
The Emmy-winning Spanish-language journalist — who has frequently filmed ICE and law-enforcement raids — remains in custody even though the charges against him have been dropped.1
Guevara is the only journalist in custody in the country whose arrest relates to newsgathering. He entered the United States from El Salvador on a visa in 2004 and later became a legal resident — but under Trump’s inhumane war on immigrants, he is at risk of deportation.
This isn’t the first time the Trump administration threatened fundamental freedoms enshrined in the First Amendment — and it definitely won’t be the last:
- The president routinely bars journalists from the White House over coverage he doesn’t like.
- At the White House’s direction, Congress ripped away millions of taxpayer dollars from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and instead channeled public funds to make ICE one of the largest military forces in the history of the world.
- Trump bullied corporate media like Paramount to settle lawsuits in what can only be described as multimillion-dollar bribes — and when Stephen Colbert said as much in a Late Show monologue, his parent company cancelled the show to great cheers from the petulant commander-in-chief.
We are in a precarious moment for press freedom.
Our own Nora Benavidez joined with a coalition of advocates and delivered powerful comments at a press conference at the Georgia statehouse on Tuesday about Guevara’s detention. She spoke about how Guevara’s case symbolizes the disturbing path this country is on — noting how the threats to our society come not from honest journalists, but from the government and corporate figures conspiring to harass and attack these champions of free speech.
From campus protests in support of Gaza to Los Angeles residents rallying against deportation raids, we stand with the people exposing narratives that those in power don’t want said. The demonization of newsmakers says more about the kind of nation we are becoming than it does about people like Mario Guevara.
Let’s be clear: Free Press is calling for the immediate release of Mario Guevara from custody. He has no criminal charges against him. He is in this country legally. He was arrested while engaging in a constitutionally protected activity — his only transgression being the courage to say and do something the Trump administration dislikes: Speak truth to power.
The founding fathers knew that freedom of the press and our freedom to speak, listen, think and assemble would be essential xxxxxxs against government overreach — and Free Press was built to support and defend those fundamental freedoms and all those who exercise them.
If it’s Mario Guevara’s detention today, it may be one of us tomorrow. That makes it all the more incumbent on everyday people, on journalists, on lawyers, on lawmakers and other leaders to stand up for something better.
Thank you,
All of us at Free Press
P.S. Help Free Press keep fighting for press freedom with a donation today.
1. “Journalist Mario Guevara Still Faces Deportation Even After Charges Were Dropped Against Him,” Democracy Now!, July 21, 2025
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