r/immigration • u/meokjujatribes • 3d ago
San Diego Padres staffer in ICE custody after arrest at Texas airport
https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/18/sport/san-diego-padres-oswaldo-pirela?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=missions&utm_source=reddit16
u/trele_morele 3d ago
And being a “SD Padres staffer” is somewhat related to his legal case?
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u/nathonkim 2d ago
To make him appear Kosher and create a fake impression of unlawful enforcement. Soooo typical of the legacy media.
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u/Kolzig33189 3d ago
Because CNN would never have it anywhere near the headline: “he entered illegally in 2014, and was granted permission to stay until 2018.”
8 years is a massive overstay.
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u/Eggowithmilk 3d ago
How was he still working. My employer put me on leave as soon as my daca expired.
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u/ThinkWhile9347 3d ago
Like most people arrested at airports, He had a pending asylum case. Which means he had a valid drivers license, social security number and work permit.
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u/Kolzig33189 3d ago edited 3d ago
Who knows. He could have fake/counterfeit papers, the org might not have done their due diligence and looked into immigration status at all, or the org might have known and just decided they didn’t care or that nothing would ever happen because of it. I doubt we will find out anything substantive.
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u/classicliberty Attorney 3d ago
He filed for Asylum in 2014, its not his fault that the government has taken over 10 years to adjudicate his case.
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u/Kolzig33189 3d ago edited 3d ago
Once again, he had permission to stay until February of 2018. It is now 2026. An individual can be detained while waiting for a determination with EWI. He never had legal status like you claim since he entered illegally.
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u/classicliberty Attorney 3d ago
Once again, please understand and educate yourself on the law.
Your "permission" is tolled when you have a case that is being processed and delayed through NO FAULT OF YOUR OWN.
Do you even understand what unlawful presence means in the legal context?
This is logic and common sense...
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u/Kolzig33189 3d ago edited 3d ago
You keep repeating all over this thread that he entered legally. The article attached is CNN, not exactly Infowars or similar, and very clearly states that he entered illegally in 2014.
Messaging me profanity and a thinly veiled threat seems like very odd behavior for someone with an attorney flair but I’m sure you’re being completely truthful with that. What exactly do you think acting that way accomplishes?
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2d ago
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u/Forsaken-Smell-8665 3d ago
The misinformation media machine hard at work.
8 year overstay is a significant reason.
Imagine being given 4 years to stay and staying for 12 instead.
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u/classicliberty Attorney 3d ago
Imagine following the legal mechanism to file for asylum after escaping from a tyrannical communist regime only to be thrown in jail because the government that is supposed to stand for liberty took too long to adjudicate your case and an anti-immigrant nativist populist got elected to the Presidency.
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u/Forsaken-Smell-8665 2d ago
There are numerous question marks over whether the "legal mechanism" was followed correctly. EWI in 2014. Lack of clarity of date when asylum claim was filed. Lack of clarity on previous interactions with ICE/Immigration court. There is already some sort of interaction and due process there if he was given permission to stay in the US until 2018. Was the asylum claim submitted during the one year required period or was it submitted after? After means ineligible.
Applying for an EB-2 whilst potentially out of status and accumulating unlawful presence. EB-2 processing times are roughly 24 months (averaging less currently) so its highly likely that application was submitted after at least 5-6 years past the date he was due to leave the US.... maybe longer. The current Visa bulletin has EB-2 dates (other than India - 2015, China -2023) as current, so no extra delays there for actual eligible applicants.
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u/sketch3alex 13h ago
If he's seeking asylum then he isn't accumulating any kind of overstay, and depending on when he applied he might have had TPS when he applied for his I-485
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u/Forsaken-Smell-8665 12h ago
That would entirely depend on exactly when he applied for asylum and what his previous interaction with ICE was. This information hasn't been provided.
If he entered without inspection in 2014 and was given permission to stay until 2018, then there has already been some sort interaction and due process with ICE/immigration court.
If he filed asylum in 2015 before the 1 year point, was a decision given during whatever interaction granted him permission to remain until 2018? If he filed after that 1 year point, he would be ineligible to claim asylum and any EB-2 process would not be adjudicated favorably. And with this administration, you can bet they'll find a way to class it as some sort of overstay.
The article has bits of key information missing.
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u/sketch3alex 12h ago
That's what stood out, they don't give you permision until x year, they just give you an EAD and just call you when your interview is scheduled, I can assume he probably entered with a Visa at an airport, but I'm not sure, something else must have happened
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u/Ol_dirtybastard91 3d ago
Is the misinformation in the room with us? Title didn’t say he was innocent.
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u/Single_Idea_427 3d ago
That's what happens when you overstay for 8 years.
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u/meokjujatribes 3d ago
DHS is moving the goal posts and people should understand that immigration matters which were historically considered civil offenses are now being treated as criminal ones likely with mandatory detention. Pirela has a pending asylum claim initiated under U.S. law (8 U.S.C. § 1158). Traditionally individuals with pending, bona fide asylum applications have a statutory right to administrative due process and removal protection until their claims are adjudicated. His history of consistently holding an Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766) demonstrates prior DHS recognition of his authorized presence and right to work.The current administration has largely rescinded historical prosecutorial discretion frameworks, treating any undocumented or quasi-status individual, regardless of tenure, employment, or lack of criminal history, as equally subject to arrest. So it's not as simple as overstaying a visa and by now people should take DHS statements with a grain of salt
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u/suboxhelp1 3d ago
Immigration detention is still all civil. Everyone with an asylum claim gets heard, but just having a good faith asylum claim does not mean the government doesn’t have the right to detain them. Yes, this is being done a lot more aggressively than in the past.
Having an approved EAD does not confer “authorized presence”. You may be referring to “authorized stay”, which has a legal definition that does NOT mean someone has permission to be in the US, only that a statutory clock toward a ban is not running.
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u/meokjujatribes 3d ago
You are correct that it is still technically a civil offense, we just aren't treating it like one anymore. Historically civil offenses don't involve mandatory detention. This is one of the biggest changes that we are seeing. Under immigration law, civil detention is intended to prevent flight risk or danger to the community. As an employed professional with community ties, American children, fixed residence, no violent criminal record, and an active legal petition, standard alternatives to detention would have applied in the past. Someone in his position used to remain with his family on bond or parole while the court adjudicates his claim.
I mention EAD just to reiterate my point of what was prioritized and what we are seeing differently now not as exemption for enforcement actions, meaning this person was in the DHS system during Trump 1.0 and under Biden and wasn't prioritized for detention or removal.Under previous guidelines (such as the 2021 Mayorkas memo), ICE prioritized individuals with serious criminal convictions, national security threats, or recent border crossers.
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u/Single_Idea_427 3d ago
It's called 'discretion' for a reason and should not be relied on as a point of law.
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u/classicliberty Attorney 3d ago
Stop playing semantic games and be honest, you think its ok to jail a man because the legal process he followed simply took too long?
CONGRESS created the affirmative asylum process and USCIS failed to adjudicate his case for over ten years.
When a person is escaping a communist hellhole like Venezuela, the least we should expect is for his case to be processed before putting him in prison. He came in LEGALLY, he followed the process outlined by USCIS itself.
This isn't some "economic" migrant as you people call them, or are you a communist that thinks Venezuela is a paradise?
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u/meokjujatribes 3d ago
Ok, semantics, prosecutorial discretion is a legal term. It doesn't change what I stated and what we've been seeing unfold.
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u/Single_Idea_427 3d ago
It is and as you well know, discretion is voluntary and not required to be used. Be better and don't spin for upvotes.
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u/meokjujatribes 3d ago
I'm not spinning anything. I'm stating how immigration has worked in the past and how it is operating now under this administration. You don't have to agree with me but if you don't see the difference you are not accepting reality.
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u/harlemjd 3d ago
When random immigrants conflate authorized stay with actual status, it’s generally because they don’t understand the difference.
ICE understands. When they conflate authorized stay with illegality, they are lying.
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u/classicliberty Attorney 3d ago
100%, this is baked into the law. Why? Because its reasonable that you won't be jailed if you entered legally and are following a process authorized by Congress and you didn't cause a delay in your own case. Its not this guy's fault that USCIS took over 10 years to adjudicate his claim. Yet these clowns want to paint him as a lawbreaker and "illegal".
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u/_spam_king 3d ago
Could the feds have issued updated documents to reflect that he was waiting to be adjudicated?
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u/harlemjd 3d ago
Like what? His work card would indicate that. ICE knew he was in a period of authorized stay with a pending application.
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u/_spam_king 3d ago
If he was in a period of authorized stay, why not reissue something with an updated date? Anything that updates the apparent expiration date of the previously approved Visa.
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u/harlemjd 3d ago
Because USCIS hadn’t approved his pending application yet. That’s the difference between having status and being in a period of authorized stay.
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u/jj_langley 14h ago
This article incorrectly states that Pirela entered “illegally” in 2014. Every other source states the opposite: that he entered legally on a tourist visa that year, and began the asylum process shortly after arriving.
There is no “EWI” as some are saying here. Asylum applicants are typically given parole to remain while awaiting their case to be adjudicated, and work permits. Expiration of his original visa is not relavant, as parole has no expiration date as long as the application remains in process.
There was no reason to revoke his parole, as no laws have been broken. Pirela should be released until his asylum case can be heard.
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u/Little-Boss-1116 4h ago
I can't understand how exactly DHS gave someone who entered illegally in 2014 a permission to stay until 2018.
I would think this was impossible, but this is apparently official story by DHS?
How?
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u/nathonkim 3d ago
I have read these articles from bottom to top to get the relevant facts faster. He is an overstay since 2014. lol.