D.C. youth baseball coach in ICE custody after paperwork error derailed citizenship bid, family says
Illustration: Press Pass USAA youth baseball coach known to generations of Washington students as “Coach A” is in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in Louisiana, his wife told NBC4 Washington, after a paperwork error derailed his citizenship application and a missed court date ended with an ICE detainer.
Amaury Monsalve, who is from Venezuela, has coached baseball for more than 20 years at schools including Deal Middle School, Jackson-Reed High School and Woodson High School, his wife, Aniushka Monsalve, told News4. She said he holds permanent resident status and was applying to become a U.S. citizen when his application was denied after an error was found in his permanent residency paperwork, which he had completed with an attorney.
According to his wife's account, Monsalve had a scheduled immigration court hearing on a Monday. The morning before, while working as a chauffeur, he was stopped by D.C. police, who found an open container in the vehicle. He spent the night in jail even though he was only the driver, she said, and the next day he was due in two courts at once — superior court and immigration court.
His attorneys attended the immigration hearing while his family waited outside for his release, she said. Instead, she said, they were told ICE had taken him: a judge had issued an ICE detainer, and although his attorney filed an appeal, Monsalve was transferred within days to an ICE processing center in Louisiana.
NBC4 Washington reported the case on October 24. The report did not say that a final deportation order had been issued, and the family's account of the paperwork error and the missed hearing has not been independently confirmed by federal authorities in the reporting reviewed.
Sources: NBC4 Washington (Oct 24, 2026); family account as reported by NBC4 Washington.
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