Oswaldo Pirela, minor league catching coordinator in the San Diego Padres organization, was detained by ICE agents in El Paso, Texas over the weekend.
An unfortunate situation occurred within the San Diego Padres organization over the weekend.
Padres minor league catching coordinator, Oswaldo Pirela, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement early on Sunday in El Paso, according to national correspondent Lidia Terrazas.
Pirela, a Venezuelan native, was taken into custody by ICE agents at the El Paso International Airport. He was flying home to Arizona but was without proper documentation – his work permit – which his brother Jorge told The Athletic he wasn’t carrying at the time.
“According to a statement from [the Department of Homeland Security], Pirela entered the country legally in 2014, but that expired in 2018 and he ‘was not in possession of legal documentation granting him status in the country,’” ESPN staff wrote Tuesday. “It said Pirela would remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.”
The Padres are aware of the incident and have released a short statement regarding Pirela.
“We recently became aware of the detainment of minor league catching coordinator Oswaldo Pirela in El Paso, Texas,” the Padres said in an earlier statement. “We are working to gather additional information and will not have any further comment at this time.”
According to Kemberly Avila, the wife of Pirela, she told The Athletic that the Padres organization are assisting the family and they have been in contact with the 34-year-old development coach. She said that the family has pending asylum applications and possesses temporary ID cards.
Pirela isn’t the first professional athlete/coach to be detained by ICE, and the most recent case involved former National Football League linebacker Daniel Adongo, who was deported to Kenya a few weeks ago.
Adongo was a noted criminal and had overstayed his visa following the end of his football career; Pirela is a current employee of the Padres organization with no criminal record but the process of getting government applications to go through has proven to be difficult recently.
Pirela spent three seasons in the Texas Rangers’ minor league system as a catcher from 2009 to 2011 but never made it past the Dominican Summer League. He joined the San Diego organization in 2024 as a coach and player-development staff member.
Pirela is with the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas this season but has also done work with the Single-A Lake Elsinore Storm. It remains unclear when Pirela will return home or to work, but it doesn’t appear that he will be deported back to Venezuela.
