The detention of a D.C. youth baseball coach by Immigration and Customs Enforcement has prompted his players to speak out in support of his character.
Amaury Monsalve has been a figure in the District’s baseball community for more than two decades. He’s coached at Jackson-Reed High School, Woodson High School and, for the past three years, Alice Deal Middle School. Known simply as “Coach A,” Monsalve centers his approach on sportsmanship and respect, his players say.
Last month, he was arrested a day before a scheduled hearing regarding his removal from the country.
While driving seven people as an Uber driver on Oct. 18, D.C. Metropolitan Police stopped him for allegedly running a red light, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson. Everyone in the vehicle was arrested after officers found an open alcohol container, a loaded firearm and a suspected controlled substance in the car, the spokesperson said.
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No charges were filed against Monsalve, but he was detained by ICE after a judge ordered him removed from the country at his Oct. 19 immigration hearing, a Justice Department official told The Washington Sun.
A DHS spokesperson told The Sun that Monsalve was admitted to the United States on a temporary basis in 2003 but “failed to depart as required by law.” The spokesperson added that Monsalve received a green card in 2006 but was placed in removal proceedings in March 2025 after allegedly committing fraud or willful misrepresentation to obtain a visa, other documentation or admission into the country.
Robert Carmona-Borjas, a close friend of Monsalve’s for the past 30 years who has been helping his family through his human rights nonprofit, the Arcadia Foundation, told The Sun in a statement that the issue stems from alleged omissions in immigration documentation prepared by a former attorney more than 20 years earlier, and that the judge’s order has been appealed.
Following his arrest, Monsalve has been in a Louisiana detention facility awaiting a virtual bond hearing scheduled for Tuesday in Virginia. While his wife and two children prepare for a legal battle, their community, including some of his players, has continued to support them.
Liam Novikoff plays catcher for Alice Deal Middle School’s baseball team, and last year was his first time playing for Monsalve. The team had a winning season, and the 12-year-old said he learned “valuable lessons of respect” along the way.
“He’s a great coach, and I just think he does a great job connecting with everybody on our team, because he’s just a really kind person,” Novikoff said. “He just wants to connect with everyone by acknowledging everybody’s different ways of learning and personalities.”
When Novikoff heard the news of Monsalve’s detention, he said he felt shock, sadness and anger. He’s been trying to find ways to help Monsalve’s family — and has even considered hosting a charity event.
“I was thinking of organizing a home run derby for my school to help raise awareness about what’s going on and help kind of get the word out more,” the middle schooler said. “You might have to pay to hit, or, yeah, I’ve thought of the rough draft, but I’m still in the planning area.”
One memory Novikoff shared to best describe Monsalve’s coaching style was when he made the team run laps after a win last season after his teammates made fun of the other team for sharing equipment.
“We played a team that came from a less fortunate area of D.C., and some of my teammates were talking about how the other team shared the same bats,” Novikoff said. “And after the game he pulled us all in a huddle and told us he didn’t care if we won by 20 or lost by 20; he only cared if we showed respect to the other team and how we represented our community.”
One of Novikoff’s teammates last season, Lucas Sheehy, 14, also mentioned running laps when discussing the impact Monsalve had on him as a player. “It was intense,” he said.
“Usually a coach gives up on it, like ‘one lap and now you know your lesson,’” Sheehy said. “We literally ran until some of us were so apologetic. You’ve never seen these kids be so nice to somebody. But it was definitely deserved.”
Sheehy said it encapsulated who Monsalve is as a coach and a person: not just focused on the game, but always showing up to teach the kids how to “be a human.” Lucas’ younger brother, 11-year-old Dominic, played for Monsalve’s travel team.
“Every single game, no matter if we were winning or losing, he would always just say, ‘Be a good player,’” Dominic said. “A lot of people know him as a great guy. He has great character.”
Monsalve’s wife, Aniushka, told The Sun in a statement that she has kept in contact with him while he remains in ICE custody. She said he has continued to prepare training plans for young baseball players in Venezuela as part of the program Voice of the Children, which aims to help disadvantaged children play baseball.
“My husband sees the child sitting on the bench who doesn’t think he’s good enough,” his wife said in the statement. “He makes it his mission to show that child that he matters and that he can succeed.”
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