Hoping for a Miracle: Toombs County family pleads for release of detained student-athlete

TOOMBS COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - A traffic stop outside Toombs County High School has landed an 18-year-old student-athlete in federal immigration custody — and his family is fighting to bring him home.

WTOC went to Toombs County to dig deeper into the case.

Roberto Itzep-Caba is a Toombs County high school junior known in the community as a star soccer and cross country athlete.

The Toombs County Sheriff confirmed to WTOC that on August 8th, Caba was pulled over for running a stop sign outside of Toombs County High School.

Caba was then taken into custody for driving without a license.

Federal immigration services were quickly alerted of Cabas’ arrest from a system that processes fingerprints at the county jail.

On Monday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) moved him to the Stewart Immigration Detention Center.

The sheriff told us there’s been an administrative warrant for him for around nine years.

WTOC spoke to the Caba family who said that’s when they brought their son to the United States from Guatemala under an asylum claim.

Now, they say they are devastated and are holding out hope for Roberto’s safe return.

Roberto’s parents, speaking through a translator, asked not to be shown on camera.

“He just feels like he didn’t deserve this,” said Roberto’s family. “He was almost graduating he had this year and next year. He hopes in a miracle that God can help us and that there is a better opportunity for him. They come from Guatemala in hopes of a better future because there is so much going on in Guatemala, they came here to be in better hands,” said Roberto’s family."