Journalists in the US face detentions and deportation — The Guardian
In the United States, journalists covering immigration policy and protests are facing detentions, the use of force and deportations. In Minneapolis, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents threw independent photographer John Abernathy to the ground while he was documenting one of the protests against tighter immigration enforcement.
In a photograph from the scene, Abernathy is lying on the ground with pepper spray running down his face. According to the photographer, when agents threw him down, he handed his camera to another photographer, hoping to preserve the images he had taken. “What is happening here deserves to be seen,” he said.
As The Guardian reports, the US Press Freedom Tracker recorded 32 arrests and 170 attacks on journalists in the country in 2025. Most of these incidents occurred during protests.
Detention of a journalist in Tennessee
Colombian reporter Estefani Rodriguez, who covered immigration issues for a Spanish-language media outlet in Nashville, was arrested in March. She was held for two weeks in ICE facilities in Louisiana and Alabama before a judge ordered the journalist’s release.
The day before her arrest, Rodriguez reported on immigration detentions at a local court. Later, agents surrounded her car bearing the outlet’s logo and arrested her.
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Deportation of Mario Guevara
In Georgia, ICE agents arrested Salvadoran journalist Mario Guevara, an Emmy Award winner. He had lived in Atlanta for nearly two decades, ran an independent Spanish-language media outlet and posted material about immigration operations on TikTok. At the time of his arrest in June 2025, Guevara was covering the “No Kings” protest.
The journalist spent more than 100 days in custody, mostly in solitary confinement, and was deported to El Salvador in October 2025. Guevara’s wife and children remained in the United States. He believes he was persecuted because of his journalistic work.
A representative of the US Department of Homeland Security rejected these claims. According to the representative, Guevara was arrested by local law enforcement for obstructing their work, and the deportation took place on the basis of a final immigration judge’s decision made more than ten years ago.
In February 2026, four journalists were briefly detained in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, three of whom were working on assignment for the Associated Press. They were covering the situation at a government complex where African migrants recently deported from the United States were being held. The journalists were accused of trespassing, and their phones and equipment were confiscated for a week.
