MLB teams 'proactive' in rushing Venezuelan players back to U.S. - ESPN

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — In the wake of the United States launching a military strike on Venezuela to capture its president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Jan. 3, executives throughout Major League Baseball mostly coalesced around one plan: get their Venezuelan players to the U.S. as quickly as possible.

Those early arrivals quelled a lot of teams' fears about the players' safety and, ultimately, their ability to report on time for spring training, which began in camps throughout Florida and Arizona this week. Most of those who stayed behind have since been able to secure visas without navigating tougher-than-usual logistical hurdles, according to several front office executives and agents who spoke to ESPN this week.

«As soon as the Maduro thing happened, teams were like, 'Let's get guys here sooner rather than later,'» said one agent who represents several Venezuelan-born players. «So, a lot of guys have just been here for a while.»

Venezuelan players who are not citizens or residents — and thus don't possess U.S. passports — must secure P-1A visas to travel to the U.S. and play out their baseball seasons. Because the U.S. embassy in Venezuela's capital city of Caracas has been closed since 2019, Venezuelan players travel to Colombia or the Dominican Republic to secure their visas before flying to the U.S.

Two agents told ESPN their clients have had to endure exceedingly long waits while getting their visas processed in Colombia, with one in particular spending more than three weeks in limbo before finally being able to travel to Arizona for spring training. With the U.S. making a concerted effort to crack down on immigration, others have pointed to longer-than-usual delays to obtain visas and green cards