Brunswick, Georgia, August 27, 2025一Journalist Mario Guevara remains in detention after a judge requested more information in a federal court hearing Wednesday in which the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) petitioned for his immediate release.
Guevara’s legal team, including the ACLU, argued before U.S. Magistrate Judge Benjamin Cheesbro, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, that Guevara is being detained primarily on the basis of his journalism, and this continued detention is a violation of his First and Fifth Amendment rights. The federal government has opposed Guevara’s release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, arguing that his practice of recording and livestreaming law enforcement poses a danger to society. Judge Cheesbro requested that legal teams submit additional information within seven days.
“The government now argues that filming law enforcement in public is a ‘threat’ to the public, an idea that strikes at the very heart of the First Amendment. If livestreaming is treated as a danger worthy of detention, then the act of bearing witness itself is under attack,” said CPJ Regional Director José Zamora at a news conference near the Frank M. Scarlett Federal Building after today’s hearing. “This case sets a dangerous precedent. It is a manifest risk not only for journalists, but potentially for anyone who records law enforcement, or perhaps even public officials. Suppressing that right is the logic of repression, not democracy.”
Mario Guevara has been in ICE custody for over two months since being arrested while reporting at a June protest in the Atlanta metro area. He has been transferred between local authorities and ICE detention, and remains in Georgia’s Folkston ICE Processing Center, though he is not facing any charges and was in the country legally at the time of his arrest. CPJ filed a declaration in support of the habeas petition.
See a timeline of events in Guevara’s case.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.