A Spanish-language journalist who had been in immigration detention in Georgia since June was deported Friday to El Salvador.

Mario Guevara, 48, was covering a protest just outside Atlanta on June 14 when local police arrested him and then turned him over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement several days later.

His lawyers had been fighting parallel battles in the immigration court and federal court systems trying to get him released.

In a live video posted on Facebook Friday afternoon, Guevara is seen, escorted by El Salvador government officials, exiting a vehicle and hugging a woman who pointed a camera phone at him.

"Hello, Mom,” he said into the screen.

He looked toward the sky and said, "My country, my country, my country. Thank God. This isn’t how I wanted to come to my country, but thank God.”

Guevara fled El Salvador two decades ago out of fear and amassed a big audience as a journalist in the Atlanta area.

He worked for years for Mundo Hispanico, a Spanish-language newspaper, before starting a digital news outlet called MG News last year.

He often arrived at scenes where ICE or other law enforcement agencies were active and regularly livestreamed what he saw on social media.

He was livestreaming video on social media from a “No Kings” rally protesting President Donald Trump’s administration when police in DeKalb County arrested him.

Guevara's deportation comes after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday declined to halt a deportation order issued last month by the Board of Immigration Appeals.

All criminal charges filed against Guevara since his arrest were dismissed by local prosecutors.

A separate case challenged the constitutionality of Guevara's detention in immigration custody and remains pending in a federal court.

His lawyers argued he was being punished for his journalism work and asked a judge to order him immediately released and order that he not be deported while that case was pending.