Oswaldo José Pirela was detained by immigration authorities at El Paso International Airport on Sunday morning and remained in custody late Monday, turning a routine work trip into a family crisis and leaving the San Diego Padres minor-league catching coordinator behind bars in El Paso, Texas.
The detention is drawing attention now because his family says he was picked up around 5 a.m. while traveling for work, and ICE records still showed him in custody late Monday. The Padres said early Tuesday that they had recently learned of his detainment and were working to gather more information, with no further comment for now.
Daniela Pirela said her brother had been traveling weekly for the Padres and that he had first come to the United States in 2014, when he sought asylum. She said he is in the United States legally, but the family still has not been told why he was detained. “He did everything lawfully as the U.S. asks,” she said, adding that he “loves this country.”
That uncertainty is what has sharpened the case. Daniela Pirela said she briefly spoke with him and that he tries not to worry the family. “He’s a very strong person and he tries not to worry us,” she said. “He’s going to say he’s OK. That’s what he said.”
The family says the detention is especially hard to understand because they view it through the history that brought them here. Jorge Heli Pirela said the family was directly affected by persecution from the Venezuelan regime and came to the United States seeking safety through the legal process. He described Oswaldo Pirela as “a devoted father, a dedicated coach, an exceptional worker, and someone who has earned the respect of his coworkers, former managers, employers, players, and the communities he has been part of.”
Oswaldo Pirela has two U.S.-born daughters and lives outside Phoenix, Arizona, according to relatives. The family has publicly asked U.S. Rep. Abraham Hamadeh to intervene and is seeking a lawyer to help free him. Daniela Pirela said she believes her brother was targeted because his asylum case is still active, and she said the family does not understand why it has taken so long to process. “There isn’t a reason why they detained him,” she said. “They still haven’t told us.”
For now, the only confirmed next step is the one his family is pushing for: legal help, a review of his case, and a release that would let him go back to the trip, the job and the daughters waiting at home.
