ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Bond was set Tuesday morning at $7,500 for Mario Guevara, the Salvadoran reporter arrested June 14 during an immigration protest in DeKalb County.

Guevara’s hearing was held at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, a city in southwest Georgia. James Ward, a federal immigration court judge, presided over the hearing.

Guevara is being held at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing center in Folkson, located in Georgia’s deep southeastern corner. Guevara appeared virtually at the hearing.

Federal officials said they would appeal Guevara’s bond. Ward set a date of July 31, 2025, for that hearing.

Guevara was arrested on June 14 while covering a DeKalb County protest against President Donald Trump and immigration enforcement operations. DeKalb police charged him with unlawful assembly, obstruction of a law enforcement officer and pedestrian on or along the roadway, charges that were dropped last week.

But Guevara was later detained by ICE because he does not have permanent residency. His attorneys say he has a work authorization.

Eight people, including Guevara, were arrested during the protest. DeKalb County law enforcement said they had “threatened public safety and disobeyed law enforcement orders.”

During Tuesday morning’s bond hearing, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said prosecutors relied on a 2015 Facebook post where Guevara posed with a firearm to argue that he was a danger to the public. Guevara’s lawyer objected to the post, as it was not presented as evidence.

The organization also said Ward remarked “there was a gray area between constitutionally protected speech and obstructive behavior. He noted that it was not for an immigration court to rule on that matter, but that if Guevara were to face additional charges or be convicted the court could reconsider his release.”

Guevara has been covering immigration in the U.S. for more than two decades, according to Atlanta News First’s sister station, Telemundo Atlanta.

According to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Guevara is currently the only journalist in custody in the United States.

“We are heartened to see that Mario Guevara was ordered to be released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at his bond hearing, though we remain concerned about the arguments the prosecution made that Guevara’s work as a reporter presented a danger to the community,” said Katherine Jacobsen, CPJ’s U.S., Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator.

“The fact that Guevara was arrested while exercising his First Amendment rights as a journalist and was subsequently held for over two weeks by various law enforcement bodies sends an alarming message to the media and has effectively silenced Guevara’s coverage of his community,” Jacobsen said. “We urge law enforcement to thoroughly investigate why Guevara was arrested in the first place.”

Guevara is still facing charges in Gwinnett County on distracted driving, failure to obey a traffic control device and reckless driving. He has not been arrested or detained in the county.

Atlanta News First and Atlanta News First+ provide you with the latest news, headlines and insights as Georgia continues its role at the forefront of the nation’s political scene. Download our Atlanta News First app for the latest political news and information.

Atlanta News First podcasts are available now on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | YouTube

Copyright 2025 WANF. All rights reserved.