Mariachi-playing brothers and their parents are released from ICE custody, lawmakers say

Activists protest the detention of Antonio, Caleb and Joshua Gámez-Cuéllar at the El Valle detention centre on March 8, in Raymondville, Texas. (Joel Martinez/The Monitor/AP via CNN Newsource)

Two promising young mariachi musicians and their parents, who were being held in ICE detention for nearly two weeks after they were detained by the Department of Homeland Security in Texas, have been released, according to an X post from U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, who met two of the brothers during their trip to Capitol Hill last year.

Caleb Gámez-Cuéllar, 14, and Joshua Gámez-Cuéllar, 12, had been held with their parents at the South Texas Family Residential Center, a facility in Dilley.

Their brother, Antonio Gámez-Cuéllar, 18, was also released after being held at a separate facility in Raymondville, Texas. He appeared at a news conference Monday with U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, a Texas Republican, outside the facility.

CNN has reached out to DHS for further details.

“The Gámez-Cuéllar family has been released,” Castro said in the post alongside photos of the family. “We are taking them now to reunite with their son Antonio,” Castro said.

Less than a year ago, the two eldest brothers were recognized on Capitol Hill for their award-winning performances in a premier high school mariachi group. Word of the talented musicians’ detention spread through their hometown of McAllen, Texas, and the active community of mariachi musicians in the area and around the nation, as some state leaders decry DHS tactics that again landed children in federal custody.

The young musicians join a growing list of children and teens swept up in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, including five-year-old Liam Ramos, whose image gripped hearts around the world when he was detained in Minneapolis wearing a bunny hat and sent to the Dilley facility. He was later released.

The brothers’ parents, Emma Guadalupe Cuéllar Lopez and Luis Antonio Gámez Martinez, were arrested by ICE on Feb. 25, according to DHS, which said the two had been living in the U.S. illegally. The family entered the U.S. illegally in 2023 near Brownsville, Texas, according to DHS.

“They chose to bring their adult son and two children with them,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.

“ICE does not separate families. Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates,” the statement said. “In strict accordance with ICE policy, adult males without children are NOT housed at the Dilley facility for the safety of the children inside the facility.”

The Dilley facility is retrofitted for families, with classrooms and educational materials, according to DHS.

But immigration advocates and attorneys have in recent months said there are harmful conditions at the facility, including children getting sick and being denied adequate medical care and proper food.

“The law requires illegal aliens who show up at a port of entry without valid entry to be detained while all their claims are heard. … Unlike the previous administration, the Trump administration is not going to ignore the rule of law,” the DHS statement said.

Castro said he met with two of the brothers and their parents during a planned visit to the Dilley facility Monday.

“Donald Trump said he was going after criminals. He said he was going after people who are dangerous to Americans. Well, how is it that these two young men were good enough to perform at the United States Capitol at the invitation of their congresswoman?” Castro said in a video posted over the weekend, decrying the family’s detention. “They were safe enough to tour the White House, and yet the Trump administration has them sitting in a prison in Dilley, Texas.”

De La Cruz, who congratulated the brothers’ high school mariachi group in June, said she requested a visit to the El Valle Detention Centre in Raymondville before the eldest brother’s release.

“I am troubled by the news surrounding the Gámez-Cuéllar family. As I have consistently said, enforcement resources should be focused on individuals with criminal records — a secure border and commonsense policies must go hand-in-hand,” De La Cruz said in a statement on Facebook.

Protesters gathered outside the El Valle facility Monday to demand the brothers’ release.