The grandfather of two Pelham High School soccer standouts is heading home to Alabama after being ordered released from federal immigration detention in Louisiana, closing out a month-long ordeal that began with a single stop at the Birmingham airport. Roberto Avalos Magallon, the grandfather and adoptive father of Pelham soccer players Orlando and Acxel Avalos, was granted release following a Department of Homeland Security motion, and family members were planning to pick him up as word of his release spread.
An Airport Arrest That Split a Family
Roberto Avalos Magallon and his wife, Dolores Mendoza Cerda, were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport early the previous month, according to AL.com. ICE told Telemundo Birmingham that the pair, both Mexican nationals, had entered the country legally on visas but overstayed their authorized duration. The couple was separated and taken to different detention facilities in Louisiana.
Mendoza Cerda was granted bond and returned to her family in Pelham.
“We’re Elated. It Is Really Good News for Once.”
Kimberly Fasking, who has been close to the family through the ordeal, celebrated the news of Roberto's release. “We’re elated. It is really good news for once,” she said, according to the same AL.com report. Fasking also said Dolores Mendoza Cerda was very happy that her husband would be coming home. The Department of Homeland Security filed the motion that led to his release, and the government plans to reinitiate removal proceedings in a court that does not require detention — a shift that, per the article, allows the case to move forward without either grandparent behind bars.
Fasking and Yara Garcia have both raised questions about the government's removal process throughout the case. Fasking said she believes Roberto and Dolores will probably not ultimately be ordered removed, though that remains an open question tied to the couple's pending green card petition, which the family says is still working through the system. The legal fight unfolded against the backdrop of a May 2026 ruling from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which found 2-1 that many detainees could seek bond hearings, rejecting an overly broad interpretation of the law, a decision Hoodline previously reported.
A Family Known for Pelham Soccer
Roberto Avalos Magallon and Dolores Mendoza Cerda adopted their grandchildren in 2017 after their daughter died of cancer and stepped in to care for Orlando and Acxel Avalos. Orlando, a sophomore, became the first student-athlete in Pelham High School history to win the Gatorade Alabama Boys Soccer Player of the Year award, according to Gatorade's official announcement. He helped lead the Pelham Panthers to a 23-3-1 record and a trip to the Alabama Class 6A state quarterfinals during the 2025-2026 season, per TopDrawerSoccer.
That local prominence helped fuel a wave of community support once the grandparents were detained. Andrew Brower, who leads the Birmingham United Soccer Association and Alabama FC, said the family are really good people.
Part of a Broader Pattern in Alabama
The couple's case fits a pattern Hoodline has tracked in recent months, including the ordeal of an Albertville teen held over 200 days despite approved humanitarian status, and the case of an 86-year-old Alabama woman shackled and transferred to Louisiana detention earlier this year. For now, Roberto Avalos Magallon is set to rejoin his wife and grandsons in Pelham, with the family's green card petitions still pending and the ultimate outcome of their immigration case unresolved.
