Mullin Says Detained 'Coach A' Has Firearms, Drug Arrests

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin pushed back Saturday on news coverage of a Washington, D.C.-area youth baseball coach held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, calling the man a “CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIEN from Venezuela with recent arrests for firearms and drug offenses” in a post on X.

Mullin identified the man as Amaury Jose Monsalve Figuera and said in the same post that ICE arrested him on October 19 “after the United States Marshals Service honored ICE’s detainer.” Mullin wrote that Monsalve “will remain in ICE custody.”

This “middle school coach” is a CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIEN from Venezuela with recent arrests for firearms and drug offenses.

On October 19, @ICEgov arrested Amaury Jose Monsalve Figuera after the United States Marshals Service honored ICE’s detainer.

He will remain in ICE custody… https://t.co/9UF4WXLm8i

— Secretary Markwayne Mullin (@SecMullinDHS) October 31, 2026

The secretary’s post quoted Rep. Rob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, who wrote on X earlier Saturday that “Kids playing Little League should be focused on the game—not living in fear of ICE” and called the story “heartbreaking.” Menendez was sharing a Washington Post report on the coach’s players and their families.

What ICE says

Monsalve, known to players as “Coach A,” has coached at Alice Deal Middle School in the District and at Jackson-Reed and Woodson high schools, according to WTOP and NBC4 Washington. His family has described him as a lawful permanent resident who was seeking citizenship.

ICE tells a different story. In a statement to WTOP, the agency said Monsalve was arrested in connection with firearms, ammunition, drug and open-container offenses. An ICE spokesperson told NBC4 Washington that “His green card was revoked following immigration fraud proceedings, and an immigration judge ordered his removal on October 19.” The spokesperson added that “Work authorization or a pending application does NOT make you an American citizen or give you the right to remain in this country,” and said he remains in custody pending deportation.

What the family says

Monsalve’s wife told WTOP that a day before his immigration hearing, D.C. police stopped him while he was working as a chauffeur, found an open container of alcohol in the car and took him into custody. Robert Carmona-Borjas of the Arcadia Foundation, who is assisting the family, told WTOP that no charges were filed in that stop and blamed Monsalve’s immigration problems on “serious errors made by a former immigration attorney more than 20 years ago.”

His wife said that when she and their son waited outside his immigration court hearing the next day, he never came out, according to WTOP. Carmona-Borjas told the outlet that an appeal filed the day Monsalve was detained remains pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals. WTOP reported that he is being held in Louisiana and that a bond hearing is set for November 3.

The Washington Post reported that more than a dozen families wrote letters supporting Monsalve and that the community has raised more than $80,000 for his case.

Why it matters

The case is the latest flashpoint in the fight over how deportation cases are portrayed. Democrats such as Menendez have framed the coach’s detention as a community tragedy. The administration says the full record matters: by ICE’s account, an immigration judge ordered Monsalve removed after his green card was revoked over fraud, and the agency lists weapons and drug-related arrests in his history.

Federal officials have not released arrest records for the firearms and drug offenses ICE cited, and the family disputes that he has a criminal record. The Board of Immigration Appeals has not ruled on his appeal. Daily Beltway will follow the November 3 bond hearing.

Reporting by Daily Beltway.