Freedom oppressed: the journalists caught up in Trump’s ICE crackdown
Summary
Under President Trump’s immigration crackdown, federal agents have aggressively targeted immigrants and those supporting them, including journalists. Several reporters, some immigrants themselves, have been arrested or detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while covering protests or immigration enforcement.Key Facts
- In 2025, US Press Freedom Tracker reported 32 arrests and 170 assaults on journalists, mostly during protests.
- John Abernathy, an independent photographer, was pepper-sprayed and tackled by ICE agents while documenting protests in Minneapolis.
- Estefany Rodríguez, a Colombian reporter in Tennessee, was arrested by ICE and held for two weeks before a judge ordered her release.
- Mario Guevara, an Emmy-winning journalist from El Salvador living in Atlanta, was arrested while covering a protest and spent over 100 days in detention before being deported.
- Guevara believes he was targeted by ICE due to his journalism, but the Department of Homeland Security denies these claims, stating his arrest was for breaking local laws and deportation followed a legal order.
- The Trump administration secretly arranged for third countries, mainly in Africa and Latin America, to accept deported individuals the US could not return directly to their home countries.
- Journalists face difficulties reporting on these policies due to hostility from US authorities and restrictive press environments abroad.
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