Teen Mariachi Musicians and Family Released from ICE Custody Following Bipartisan Pressure
Two teenage mariachi musicians and their family members have been released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody after facing widespread backlash over their detention. Representatives Joaquin Castro, a Democrat from Texas, and Monica De La Cruz, a Republican from Texas, announced the release on Monday. The Gámez-Cuéllar family has now been freed from detention centers in Texas.
"We are taking them now to reunite with their son Antonio," Castro stated in a social media post. The congressman added that he had returned to the Dilley detention facility with colleagues to meet with detained children and families, bearing witness to their stories firsthand.
Award-Winning Musicians Detained Despite Previous Government Recognition
Antonio and Caleb Gámez-Cuéllar are members of Mariachi Oro, an acclaimed high school mariachi group from McAllen, Texas, that has performed on Capitol Hill and visited the White House. The two brothers were detained on February 25 along with their parents, Luis Antonio Martínez and Emma Guadalupe Cuéllar, as well as their younger brother Joshua.
The Department of Homeland Security claimed in a statement that the family had entered the United States illegally and was released into the country by the Biden administration. However, Martínez told The New York Times that the family filed an asylum claim after fleeing violence in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, where he had previously been kidnapped by cartel members.
"He said that the family had attended all required court dates and check-ins with immigration authorities," according to the Times report. The family was notified about an ICE check-in in February and was subsequently detained at that meeting.
Family Separated During Detention
Caleb, 14, and Joshua, 12, were held at a detention center in Dilley, Texas, where children are kept with their guardians. Antonio, 18, was detained separately at El Valle Detention Center in Raymondville, Texas, due to ICE policies that prevent adult males without children from being held at Dilley.
"I told them, he is a child," Martínez told The Times about the separation. "He was in tears when they took him away in shackles."
Bipartisan Response to Controversial Detention
The brothers' detention sparked significant outcry and scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding their case. Castro questioned the situation in a social media video on Saturday, asking how the young men could be deemed safe enough to perform at the United States Capitol and tour the White House, yet find themselves imprisoned under the Trump administration.
All five members of the Gámez-Cuéllar family were released on Monday following pressure from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, as well as broader public attention to their situation.
De La Cruz, the lawmaker who originally invited the brothers' group to perform on Capitol Hill, said Saturday that she was exploring legal options to assist the family. The Republican congresswoman has faced criticism for her support of former President Donald Trump, who has prioritized mass deportations of immigrants during his second term.
Democratic lawmakers told The New York Times that family members expressed frustration that De La Cruz did not appear to take interest in their case until external pressure mounted significantly.
"I was honored to stand with Antonio and his fellow mariachis when they visited my office last year, and I am honored to stand with him again," De La Cruz said in a statement following Antonio Gámez-Cuéllar's release. "While some were busy politicizing this family's situation, I was busy solving it."
Broader Implications for Immigration Policy
Castro emphasized that the brothers' case highlighted what he described as the brutal nature of the Trump administration's sweeping immigration enforcement efforts. The detention raised serious questions about federal targeting practices and enforcement priorities.
"The Gámez-Cuéllar family should never have been sitting in the Dilley trailer prison," Castro declared during a press briefing on Monday. "Their story underlies the cruelty, irony and hypocrisy of the Trump administration's mass deportation policy."
The release of the family represents a significant development in a case that has drawn national attention to immigration enforcement practices, particularly regarding families with children and individuals who have established community ties and recognition within the United States.
