U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Padres minor league coach Oswaldo Pirela at the El Paso International Airport Sunday morning.
Now, Pirela’s family is demanding his release, saying he has a valid work permit, two U.S. citizen children and is currently pursuing an asylum application because he fears persecution in his native Venezuela.
“We just want to have him released,” said his brother, Jorge Pirela. “We don’t want him detained anymore.”
Pirela, who currently lives in Arizona, has been in the country since 2014, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
He worked as a landscaper in Florida for several years and joined the Padres organization as a bench coach in Lake Elsinore in 2024, according to his LinkedIn profile. He is currently the team’s minor league catching coordinator, according to ESPN.
Before coming to the U.S., Pirela played for the Texas Rangers organization in the Dominican Summer League.
Jorge Pirela told KPBS that although his brother’s visa expired, he still has a valid work permit and a pending asylum application.
“He’s a completely legal immigrant,” Jorge Pirela said. “He did everything the right and proper way. We followed every single pathway that the Congress created for us immigrants. And we did everything legally.”
Previous administrations would not prioritize people with pending asylum applications for detention. Instead they reserved detention for people with criminal records or those who recently crossed the border illegally.
After his arrest, Pirela’s family have posted several videos on social media asking for his release.
“The world needs more people like Owsaldo,” his mother, Naivy Dominguez, posted online. “A devoted father, a loving son and brother, a hardworking man, a man of faith and a person of integrity.”
Deporting Pirela to Venezuela would put him in danger because of his vocal criticism of the authoritarian government, his brother told KPBS.
The entire family celebrated the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuela leader Nicolas Maduro in January.
“One thing that we want to keep clear is that the government in Venezuela is still persecuting everybody that is against him,” Jorge Pirela said. “This is still happening. If you get stopped in the middle of the road, they can check your phone to see if you have any type of pictures or things that celebrate or go against the government.”
Pirela’s arrest is part of a nationwide trend. ICE began using airport arrests in July as another component of its mass deportation campaign.
The Transportation Security Agency (TSA) sends ICE a list of everyone flying in U.S. airports a few times a week, according to the National Immigration Law Clinic. That list contains people’s names, photos and other personal information. ICE then cross-references the TSA list with their own list of targets.
People arrested in airports include those with expired visas or pending immigration applications — like Pirela.
In a statement confirming the arrest, the Department of Homeland Security claimed Pirela’s legal status had expired.
“To be clear, work authorization or a pending application do NOT confer legal status in the United States,” a DHS spokesperson wrote in a statement.
The San Diego Padres said they are aware of Pirela’s arrest but declined to comment further.
