The San Diego Padres’ minor league catching coordinator was detained on Sunday at a Texas airport by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to his family.
Oswaldo Pirela, 34, was traveling back home to Arizona from El Paso after a work trip when he was taken into custody by federal agents. According to his family, he is a Venezuelan asylum seeker with an ongoing case who has been living in the U.S. since 2014 and has an active work permit.
Pirela is being held in a detention center in El Paso, and his family said a hearing is expected next week.
ICE officials did not respond to a request for comment Monday about the reason behind his detention. The Padres’ top minor league affiliate is located in El Paso; the Chihuahuas played at home all last week.
The Padres said in a statement Monday that the organization was aware of Pirela’s detention: “We are working to gather additional information and will not have any further comment at this time.”
Over the past few weeks, there have been reports of ICE arrests at airports in several states. Knowing this, Pirela and his family came up with a routine: He would check in with them every time he left or arrived on a flight, so his family could feel at ease since he travels often for work.
Still, Naivy Dominguez, Pirela’s mother, said they never thought he would actually be targeted.
On Sunday morning, his family became worried when he didn’t respond to their text messages. They soon learned that he had been detained.
“I felt horrible,” she said.
Domínguez described her son as “extremely responsible, loved by his family and friends.” He is the father of two young U.S. citizen girls.
Pirela was born in Barquisimeto, a city of 1.2 million people located in the state of Lara in the northwest part of the country. A catcher and first baseman in the Texas Rangers organization, Pirela joined the Padres’ minor-league coaching ranks in 2024, serving as bench coach for the Lake Elsinore Storm, the team’s Low Single-A affiliate.
Pirela is based in Arizona, where the Padres hold spring training and ongoing minor league workouts throughout the season.
Staff writer Kevin Acee contributed to this report.