Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detained a minor league baseball coach in the San Diego Padres’ organization, the club confirmed this week.
Oswaldo Pirela Dominguez, a Venezuelan national with a pending asylum application, was flying home to Arizona from the El Paso International Airport when ICE took him into custody Sunday, his family told The Athletic. He is being held at the El Paso Processing Center, according to ICE’s detainee locator system.
In a statement to multiple news outlets, the Padres organization said it was aware of Pirela Dominguez’s detainment and was working to gather more information.
Pirela Dominguez had authorization to remain in the country until February 2018, the Department of Homeland Security said in a post on X.
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“In violation of our nation’s laws, he overstayed his welcome by more than 8 YEARS,” DHS wrote. “NOBODY is above the law, and he will remain in ICE custody pending removal.”
The catching coordinator played for the Texas Rangers from 2008 to 2011 before joining the Padres staff in January 2024, according to his LinkedIn page. He worked as a landscaper and foreman in between.
Pirela Dominguez’s detention is the latest high-profile arrest at an airport as immigration agents have started arresting flyers with expired U.S. visas. ICE arrested a Cameroonian Johns Hopkins University researcher, Fatima Ameaka, at the Baltimore Washington International Airport in July. Immigration authorities released Ameaka, who has a pending asylum application and work permit, days later, ABC News reported.
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