Teen mariachi musicians who once performed on Capitol Hill released from ICE detention following backlash

Teenage mariachi musicians who once performed on Capitol Hill have been released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers following public outcry.

Less than a year ago, Caleb Gámez-Cuéllar, 14, and Antonio Gámez-Cuéllar, 18, performed with their championship-winning McAllen High School mariachi band in Washington. Eight months later, they were placed in immigration detention in South Texas.

The brothers’ parents, Emma Guadalupe Cuéllar Lopez, 38, and Luis Antonio Gámez Martínez, 40, were arrested by ICE on February 25 after they were accused of entering the U.S. illegally in 2023, the Department of Homeland Security said, per CNN.

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

Teenage mariachi musicians who once performed on Capitol Hill have been released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers following public outcry (Joaquin Castro via X)

Gámez Martínez, who has said the family entered the U.S. on an asylum claim, previously told The New York Times they were fleeing San Luis Potosí, Mexico, where he was kidnapped by cartel members.

With the help of a group of Democrats led by Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas, Caleb, his 12-year-old brother Joshua Gámez-Cuéllar, and their parents were released from a family detention center in Dilley Monday. Antonio was released from a facility for adults in Raymondville.

“The Gámez-Cuéllar family has been released. We are taking them now to reunite with their son Antonio,” Castro wrote on X Monday. “We are grateful for the release of the Gámez-Cuéllar family and we will not stop until we #FreeOurChildren. All of them.”

Caleb Gámez-Cuéllar, 14, who performed in Washington over the summer, was released from a detention center in Dilley Monday with his family. His 18-year-old brother, Antonio Gámez-Cuéllar, another mariachi musician, was released from a facility for adults in Raymondville (Nanette Barragán via X)

Another member of the congressional delegation that helped the family, Representative Nanette Barragán of California, said she was “glad the family is out and on their way home,” but added, “Let us NOT forget there are many more like them.”

Representative Monica De La Cruz, a Republican who represents the family’s district, had faced pressure over the detention case, including from Castro.

On Monday, De La Cruz’s office said in a press release the congresswoman secured Antonio’s release “following her direct advocacy with the White House” and other Trump administration officials.

DHS says the family entered the U.S. illegally in 2023, but the family says they were seeking asylum (Joaquin Castro via X)

“I will continue to advocate for his family in keeping with the law, and I will not stop until they are reunited,” De La Cruz wrote in a statement. “While some were busy politicizing this family's situation, I was busy solving it.”

DHS confirmed the family’s release to CNN, saying, “They will have mandatory check-ins with ICE law enforcement.”

The Independent has reached out to DHS for comment.