08/18/26 01:23:00
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08/18 13:21 CDT Former Venezuelan player working for San Diego Padres is
detained by ICE
Former Venezuelan player working for San Diego Padres is detained by ICE
By LAURA TURBAY
Associated Press/Report for America
A former Venezuelan baseball player working for the San Diego Padres was
detained by U.S. immigration officials after arriving in Texas on a work trip
for the club, his family said Tuesday.
Oswaldo Pirela, a catching coach in the Padres' minor league system, was being
held in a detention center in El Paso, federal records show. The Padres said in
a statement that the team was aware of Pirela's arrest and was trying to gather
more details.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately return an email
seeking comment Tuesday.
Pirela was on a work trip when he was arrested Sunday around 5 a.m. at an
airport in El Paso, according to his Daniela Pirela, his sister. The Padres
have a minor league affiliate team in the city, the El Paso Chihuahuas.
Daniela Pirela said her 34-year-old brother has lived in U.S. for 12 years and
has followed the law. She said he applied for asylum in 2015 and lives in
Peoria, Arizona, with his wife and two children, ages 9 and 4, who are both
U.S. citizens.
"Since he arrived in this country, the only thing he's done is follow the rules
of this country and do things properly," Daniela Pirela told the The Associated
Press.
Oswaldo Pirela had a brief minor-league playing career as a catcher in the
Texas Rangers organization.
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Turbay is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse
News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program
that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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