At 4 a.m. on Sunday, August 17, 2026, Oswaldo Pirela was walking out of El Paso International Airport on his way home to Arizona when ICE agents stopped him. Pirela, 34, is Venezuelan, the Minor League catching coordinator for the San Diego Padres, and the father of two daughters born in the United States. He had just finished a work trip with the El Paso Chihuahuas — the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate — and was flying back to Phoenix when he was intercepted.
What happened at the El Paso airport
According to his brother Jorge Pirela, Oswaldo did not have his work permit card on him at the time of the stop. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed on Tuesday, August 18, that Pirela entered the country legally on September 10, 2014, but that his immigration status expired in February 2018. At the time of his arrest, DHS stated he «was not in possession of legal documentation granting him status in the country.»
Pirela is currently being held at the ICE Processing Center in El Paso, pending deportation proceedings.
His wife, Kemberly Avila, clarified that the entire family has active asylum applications and temporary identification cards. According to sources close to the family, Pirela was also in the process of applying for an EB-2 visa — the work visa for professionals with specialized skills.
Twelve years in American baseball, from Venezuela to the Padres’ development system
Pirela was born in Barquisimeto in 1991 and signed with the Texas Rangers in 2009. His playing career stayed entirely in the Minor Leagues: 79 games over three seasons (2009–2011) in the Dominican Summer League, with a .212 batting average, per Baseball-Reference. He never reached the majors.
After retiring as a player, he moved into coaching. In 2024, he joined the Padres organization as a bench coach for the Lake Elsinore Storm, and later was promoted to catching coordinator for San Diego’s entire player development system — the role he held when ICE detained him.
The family fled Venezuela seeking political asylum. Pirela had been living with his wife and daughters outside Phoenix for more than twelve years, building a life in Arizona while his asylum case sat unresolved since 2014.
How baseball is responding — and what comes next
The San Diego Padres issued a statement confirming the detention and said the organization is working to gather more information. MLB also confirmed that the Padres are in contact with Pirela’s family.
The arrest comes as ICE operations at U.S. airports have intensified throughout 2026, fueling a broader debate over immigration policy toward Venezuelans — one of the largest asylum-seeking groups at the southern border in recent years.
As of this writing, Pirela remains detained in El Paso. His family is demanding his release and says he followed every legal step the U.S. immigration system required of them in the twelve years since they arrived.
