Luis Antonio Rosendo-Frontado, the 35-year-old coach who trains young athletes at his baseball academy in Katy, has been sitting in a federal detention facility about 75 miles from home since Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested him following a routine check-in. The Katy Rebels coach was taken into custody in Houston on August 23, and he remains locked up while his immigration case plays out.
Rosendo-Frontado is originally from Venezuela and is seeking asylum in the United States, according to his family, as reported by Chron. ICE says he entered the country on November 16, 2021, and the coach remains in federal custody pending disposition of his immigration proceedings, per the agency. His family asserts he has no criminal record.
He is being held at the IAH Polk Adult Detention Facility in Livingston, a lockup Chron also refers to as the IAH Secure Adult Detention Facility, according to ICE. The facility is operated by Utah-based private prison contractor Management & Training Corporation.
A Community Refuses to Let Go
The Katy Rebels baseball community has rallied around its coach, with the team's Instagram page describing him as a coach, mentor and leader dedicated to helping young athletes, and calling for him to be brought home. A GoFundMe page has been started to raise money for legal fees and to share updates from Rosendo-Frontado and his attorneys.
Francisco Flores, a parent of a Katy Rebels player who organized the fundraiser, described Rosendo-Frontado as a mentor, role model and cornerstone of the community. He said the Rebels baseball community will stand firmly behind the coach, though he cautioned that the immigration case could take months to resolve. Attorneys are preparing a habeas corpus petition challenging Rosendo-Frontado's continued detention and seeking his potential release, according to Flores.
That legal strategy mirrors a broader pattern taking shape across federal courts. Between January 2025 and August 2026, legal defense groups filed 57,657 federal habeas corpus petitions under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, according to the Immigration Law & Justice Network. Federal district court petitions are a route for detained noncitizens seeking release.
ICE Frames Detention as a Choice
An ICE spokesperson said Rosendo-Frontado is free to leave detention if he leaves the country, characterizing being in detention as a choice. The federal government is offering immigrants without legal status $3,000 and a free flight to self-deport, per ICE, an incentive the Department of Homeland Security expanded in December 2025 to include the flight home for noncitizens who register through the CBP Home app before facing arrest, as detailed by the Houston Chronicle. ICE also warned that people who remain in the country illegally will be arrested and deported without a chance to return, according to the agency.
Despite the strain of confinement, Rosendo-Frontado said the detention process is not easy but that supporters have given him strength. He said he expects to be together with the children again soon.
Part of a Widening Pattern in Houston
Rosendo-Frontado's case follows a string of recent Houston-area detentions that have swept up people with no criminal history during what were supposed to be routine check-ins. On December 16, HISD soccer captain Mauro Henriquez and his father were taken into custody after a check-in, and Mauro was later transferred to the same Livingston facility, an incident that sparked student protests and community rallies across Houston, as Hoodline previously reported in a distant ICE lockup transfer. In June 2026, 19-year-old Houston student Geremy Arteaga Cruz remained in custody at the same facility despite a pending asylum and T-visa claim, after USCIS failed to deliver a formal written decision notice.
That same month, 64-year-old Houston resident Joyce Basele was taken into ICE custody during a routine check-in after 14 years of regular compliance and no criminal record, a case Hoodline covered as it unfolded. And in December 2025, Venezuelan asylum seeker Stephanie Kenny-Velasquez, the wife of a U.S. Army reservist, was arrested during a routine ICE check-in in Houston and later denied bond despite having no criminal history, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Those cases reflect a measurable shift in enforcement across the state. Texas immigration records through March 11, 2026 showed that 48.1% of the 18,612 ICE arrests statewide involved individuals without criminal convictions or pending charges, up from 38.7% for all of 2025, according to Click2Houston. For now, Rosendo-Frontado remains in Livingston, and the Katy Rebels community says it isn't going anywhere.
