Teen mariachi musicians who as soon as carried out on Capitol Hill launched from ICE detention following backlash | EUROtoday

On Mar 10, 2026

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Teenage mariachi musicians who as soon as carried out on Capitol Hill have been launched from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities following public outcry.

Less than a 12 months in the past, Caleb Gámez-Cuéllar, 14, and Antonio Gámez-Cuéllar, 18, carried out with their championship-winning McAllen High School mariachi band in Washington. Eight months later, they had been positioned in immigration detention in South Texas.

The brothers’ mother and father, Emma Guadalupe Cuéllar Lopez, 38, and Luis Antonio Gámez Martínez, 40, had been arrested by ICE on February 25 after they had been accused of getting into the U.S. illegally in 2023, the Department of Homeland Security mentioned, per CNN.

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

Teenage mariachi musicians who once performed on Capitol Hill have been released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers following public outcry — Teenage mariachi musicians who as soon as carried out on Capitol Hill have been launched from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities following public outcry (Joaquin Castro by way of)

Gámez Martínez, who has mentioned the household entered the U.S. on an asylum declare, beforehand informed The New York Times they had been fleeing San Luis Potosí, Mexico, the place he was kidnapped by cartel members.

With the assistance of a bunch of Democrats led by Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas, Caleb, his 12-year-old brother Joshua Gámez-Cuéllar, and their mother and father had been launched from a household detention heart in Dilley Monday. Antonio was launched 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 — Caleb Gámez-Cuéllar, 14, who carried out in Washington over the summer season, was launched from a detention heart in Dilley Monday together with his household. His 18-year-old brother, Antonio Gámez-Cuéllar, one other mariachi musician, was launched from a facility for adults in Raymondville (Nanette Barragán by way of X)

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

Representative Monica De La Cruz, a Republican who represents the household’s district, had confronted strain over the detention case, together with from Castro.

On Monday, De La Cruz’s workplace mentioned in a press launch the congresswoman secured Antonio’s launch “following her direct advocacy with the White House” and different Trump administration officers.

DHS says the family entered the U.S. illegally in 2023, but the family says they were seeking asylum — DHS says the household entered the U.S. illegally in 2023, however the household says they had been searching for asylum (Joaquin Castro by way of)

“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 press release. “While some were busy politicizing this family’s situation, I was busy solving it.”

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

The Independent has reached out to DHS for remark.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mariachi-teens-ice-detention-release-texas-b2935208.html