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The journalist declared he might have been “the first” journalist immigrant whom Donald Trump’s administration deported from the United States while employed – but the award-winning journalist noted: “I don’t think [I’ll] be the only one.”

“Just be careful because [immigration agents are] extremely forceful,” Guevara recently said from El Salvador in a online discussion with the press freedom organization, during which he was questioned whether he had any message for other colleagues from abroad in the field. “They demonstrated they are – they have no regard for journalists. They don’t believe in the media.”

He continued: “They think the media [are] opposed to them. They see the media as an enemy … They have the power. They are able to do everything they want. It could be dangerous for us.”

Guevara issued that sobering warning amid what appeared to be the Salvadorian’s most detailed public comments yet on his situation, which culminated in his expulsion from the US on 3 October as the government enforcement initiated by Trump throughout his second presidency continued.

On that weekend, three days after Guevara’s discussion, the British journalist Sami Hamdi was detained by US officials at San Francisco international airport.

A government official said Hamdi faced deportation after his detention and visa revocation – a situation which the Council on American-Islamic Relations alleged was retaliation for the Muslim political commentator having criticized Israel while touring the US.

“We are journalists – we try to be impartial, but sometimes we must cover what is happening,” Guevara explained to the Tracker’s Briana Erickson. “They can think we are against them even if it’s untrue.

“You might face retaliation for that. That was my case. Perhaps I was the initial case – but I don’t believe [I’ll] be the sole instance.”

History and Arrest

Guevara had been well-known in the Atlanta area for more than 20 years, after fleeing El Salvador to evade armed groups in 2004. He possessed a employment authorization, and two of his children are US citizens, when he headed out to livestream anti-Trump “No Kings Day” protests in June.

As Guevara described to Erickson, on that day, he covered an afternoon protest outside Atlanta that officials responded to more aggressively than they did an prior protest which a US citizen fellow journalist chronicled.

“It was a poor decision for me,” Guevara said, clarifying how an officer who overheard him using Spanish into a camera arrested him.

Guevara implied to the interviewer that he surmised his reporting in Spanish at the moment got him targeted for detention that day. “I saw them watching me,” said Guevara, whose reporting had earned multiple regional Emmy prizes and honors. “Maybe it’s because I’m Hispanic.”

Authorities quickly dismissed the charges on which Guevara was arrested. But he remained in custody with an court in 2012 having rejected Guevara’s request to stay in the US on grounds of asylum.

Guevara had challenged that 2012 decision to a panel which reviews immigration rulings. But that case had not been resolved when officials agreed to administratively close Guevara’s case.

Court Case and Deportation

During complicated legal proceedings that took place after his arrest, Guevara’s lawyers argued that he had obtained permission to live and work in the US. They also said the purpose of arresting Guevara was to suppress his journalism, which violated his constitutional rights.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, argued that the sole cause the force of the government targeted Guevara was because he was in the US illegally. And the administration – whose president frequently attacks the media – succeeded in reviving Guevara’s prior case and finally removing him to El Salvador.

Guevara informed Erickson that on the night before his removal he was allowed 20 minutes to contact the relatives he was leaving in the US and bid farewell. He said his treatment reminded him of attacks that victimized him while reporting on protests as a journalist in El Salvador before seeking asylum in the US.

“It’s not the way I hoped to come back to my country – deported like a offender,” Guevara said to Erickson. “I was disappointed, but until the last minute I maintained the hope to remain in the United States because I trust the justice of the country.”

Hope and Future

Based on his interview with Erickson, Guevara had not given up hope of one day coming back to the US, where he said he had a owned house and was striving for permanent status at the time of his deportation.

“I worked a lot during the last 20 years,” Guevara said. “I have my own house, my own cars, you know – everything; my American dream.

“But in a moment, they altered all for me.”