Two 19-year-old twin brothers from Gwinnett County, Georgia — Luis and Carlos Orta-Santoro, recent Archer High School graduates and freshman soccer players at Wallace State Community College in Alabama — are being held at the Pine Prairie ICE Processing Center in southern Louisiana after a traffic stop in Alabama on November 4, according to detailed reporting published by 285 South on November 12 and the ICE Detainee Locator cited in that reporting.
Source: 285 South
The brothers had driven from their college in Alabama to visit their parents in Bethlehem, Georgia, and were heading back to school on November 4 when they were pulled over in Lincoln, Alabama, a city in Talladega County where a 287(g) agreement — a cooperation agreement between local law enforcement and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — is in place.
A warning, then an arrest and an immigration hold
According to a press statement from the family cited by 285 South, the twins were stopped for rolling through a stop sign. Their parents said the brothers were initially issued a warning, but the encounter escalated to an arrest and an immigration hold, and the brothers were taken to the Pickens County Detention Center in Alabama. WBRC reporting summarized by Signal News Birmingham likewise reported that the Venezuelan-born brothers were detained during a traffic stop in east Alabama and transferred to ICE custody.
Source: WBRC via Signal News Birmingham
Since then, the brothers say they have been moved five times, teammate Nicolas 'Nico' Azcarate Florez told 285 South after speaking with them. In an audio recording broadcast by a Venezuelan news agency, one of the brothers described being shackled during transfers, saying in Spanish, in the recording's words, that officers took them like animals and tied them at the waist with handcuffs and shackled their feet. That account is the brother's own description, reported by 285 South; ICE had not responded to the outlet's request for comment as of publication.
The family says the twins have pending asylum applications, no criminal records, and work permits valid until 2030. ICE has reportedly said the brothers' temporary permission to stay had expired, and the Department of Homeland Security has said they overstayed their legal period of entry and will face immigration proceedings. Both positions are reported here as attributed claims; no court has ruled on the brothers' status in the reporting cited.
Days earlier, a penalty that sent their team to nationals
The detention came days after one of the high points of the brothers' young sporting lives. Just before the stop, Luis had scored in a penalty shootout for the Wallace State Community College soccer team, a strike that helped launch the team into the Division II national tournament, which begins this weekend — a tournament the brothers are now set to miss while in custody. At Archer High School, Luis played left back for the Tigers and Carlos played on the wing.
The news travelled fast through the Archer community. Nico, a senior at Archer who played alongside the twins for several years and attended the same church, said the brothers had stopped by their old high school just before heading back to Alabama to say hello and talk about their season. He described the detention as shocking and said the twins were players the team could rely on whenever it needed them — and that off the pitch, their community is now trying to do the same for them.
A school community that had already been bracing for this
The case has landed in a community that was already debating immigration enforcement near schools. Earlier this year, dozens of Archer students had planned an ICE Out protest and pushed Gwinnett County Public Schools to adopt stricter policies to protect students from federal immigration enforcement. Nehemiah Hamilton, who was class president at the time and is now helping the Orta-Santoro family advocate for the twins' release, told 285 South that students organized then because they were watching what was happening nationally and were worried — and that the issue now feels closer with every case.
For immigrant families across metro Atlanta and the wider diaspora — including Punjabi families in Georgia whose own relatives study, work and drive under temporary statuses — the case underlines how a routine traffic stop in a 287(g) jurisdiction can become an immigration case within hours, and how quickly custody transfers can move a detained person hundreds of miles from family and lawyers, in this instance from Alabama to Louisiana.
What is solid
- The brothers were stopped on Nov. 4 in Lincoln, Alabama, and first held at the Pickens County Detention Center
- They are now at the Pine Prairie ICE Processing Center in Louisiana, according to the ICE Detainee Locator cited Nov. 12
- Both are 19, Archer High School graduates and Wallace State Community College freshmen and soccer players
- A community 5K is organized for Sunday, Nov. 15, at Alexander Park in Lawrenceville, and more than $20,000 has been donated for legal fees
What is only claimed
- The brothers' immigration status — the family says asylum applications are pending and work permits run to 2030; ICE/DHS say their permission to stay had expired and that they overstayed
- The description of shackling during transfers comes from one brother's recorded account; ICE had not commented to 285 South as of publication
What happens next
The brothers face immigration proceedings, and their family is fighting for their release with the support of former classmates and community advocates. Community members have organized a 5K on Sunday, November 15, at Alexander Park in Lawrenceville to raise awareness of the detention, and dozens of donors have given more than $20,000 through a GoFundMe for legal fees. Meanwhile, the Wallace State team's national tournament begins this weekend without Luis, whose shootout goal helped the team get there. No hearing date for the brothers was reported as of the November 12 reporting.