RAYMONDVILLE — A McAllen family that includes two award-winning high school mariachi students who were invited to the White House were released from immigration detention Monday following mounting uproar over their detention last month.
Antonio Gámez-Cuéllar, 18, walked out of the El Valle Detention Center in Raymondville along with U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, a Republican from Edinburg, who took steps to secure his release after news of his and his family’s detention drew outrage throughout the region.
His two younger brothers — Caleb, 14, and Joshua 12 — and their parents — Luis Antonio Gámez and Emma Guadalupe Cuéllar were later released from a family detention center in Dilley.
“This day should not be about politics,” De La Cruz said. “What this day is about is about common sense enforcement policies. This is about our community coming together for, not only their family, but other families who are in similar situations.”
“I challenge my colleagues to work together for new enforcement policies that not only secure our border but make safer communities and that ultimately are common sense,” she said. “These two things do not have to be in contradiction.”
The family was detained on Feb. 25 following a routine check-in with immigration officials
However, the situation didn’t garner attention until last week when lawmakers and politicians took to social media to slam the family’s detention.
“This family followed the appropriate process and procedures, yet this Administration is actively tearing them apart,” U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, a Democrat from McAllen, wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday.
“I call on this Administration and every member of our South Texas Congressional Delegation to speak out against this senseless cruelty and fight to keep this family together.”
The family had entered the country in May 2023 through the CBP One app, a Biden-era application process for asylum seekers.
The students had informed teachers at McAllen High School about their check-in the day prior, according to Neri Fuentes, an assistant director for the school’s mariachi band, the McHi Mariachi Oro.
“They’ve always had these check-ups,” Fuentes said. “We know how they are and that they’ve always followed the rules and followed the directions so we really didn’t think that anything was going to happen.”
But after their check-in, the family was detained, devastating their friends and sending shockwaves throughout the community. Caleb and Joshua, along with their parents, were taken to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley. Antonio, who is no longer a minor, was taken to the Raymondville facility.
During De La Cruz’s visit to the facility for Antonio’s release, demonstrators shouted at the congresswoman, accusing her of using the situation as a photo opportunity and of not taking action until facing pressure from the public.
However, her office said their team had been tracking the issue since it was first brought to their attention. De La Cruz and her office had explored all options over the last few weeks, they added, including elevating this to the highest levels of government, to secure Antonio’s release.
Prior to Antonio’s release, De La Cruz had stated on social media that she had been in contact with the White House, incoming Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, and Border Czar Tom Homan to resolve the situation.
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Democrat from San Antonio, led a congressional delegation to the Dilley facility to demand the family’s release there.
In a news conference following their release, Castro called the achievement an ensemble effort by lawmakers and the public who spread the word on the family’s situation.
Asked if he believed that De La Cruz had also worked to secure the family’s release, Castro said he trusted her words.
He noted that it was at De La Cruz’s invitation that Antonio and Caleb were able to perform at the U.S. Capitol and that he got to meet the brothers there last year.
“The great irony and hypocrisy here is that these young men were good enough to perform at the United States Capitol building, that they were not considered any kind of security threat to our country,” Castro said. “They go from that last summer, less than a year ago, to sitting in a trailer-prison with their parents.”
Lomi Kriel contributed to this story.
Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.
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