A pair of South Texas brothers honored at the U.S. Capitol for their mariachi music have been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and now face deportation along with the rest of their family.
Nine months ago, Antonio Yesayahu Gámez-Cuéllar, 18, and Caleb Gámez-Cuéllar, 14, were honored in Washington D.C. for winning a statewide mariachi competition in Texas.
“Your community is so so proud of your hard work, your talent and your dedication,” U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, a Lone Star State Republican, told the students on the House floor just a few months ago.
Now, along with their parents and younger brother, the musical siblings are locked up in South Texas ICE detention facilities.
“These Mariachi students from McAllen were good enough for Monica De La Cruz’s photo ops. Now they’re in detention centers and she’s nowhere to be found,” Bobby Pulido, a Tejano musician and Democratic South Texas congressional candidate, said in an Instagram video over the weekend.
In a statement released Saturday, De La Cruz — the current representative for Texas’ 15th District, which includes McAllen — said the family’s detention “breaks [her] heart.”
“I have repeatedly urged that enforcement target those who actually threaten our communities, not good, law-abiding, talented people who are working through the legal process,” De La Cruz said. “My office is closely monitoring their situation and we are doing all we can.”
Antonio Gámez-Cuéllar is a senior in high school and first-chair mariachi trumpet for the entire state of Texas. Because he’s 18, he was separated from the rest of his family and placed in a different facility, according to multiple news reports.
“Right now he’s sitting alone in a detention center in Raymondville while his family is locked up in Dilley,” Pulido said.
“I told them, he is a child,” the youth’s father, Luis Antonio Martínez, told the New York Times. “He was in tears when they took him away in shackles.”
The family came to the United States legally in 2023 at a border crossing in Brownsville via the CBP One app. The members also passed their “credible fear” interview, a requisite for seeking asylum.
Martínez told officials that he and his wife and children were fleeing threats in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, where he had been kidnapped by cartel members.
Since then, the family have regularly made check-in appointments with immigration, according to the New York Times. The family recently received a call from ICE saying they needed to check in Feb. 25, and when they showed up, agents detained them.
“They’re doing it the right way, and now they’re being torn apart,” Pulido said.
Martínez and wife, Emma Guadalupe Cuéllar, who has colon cancer, are being held at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, an hour southwest of San Antonio, as are 14-year-old Caleb and 12-year-old son Joshua.
The El Valle Detention Center where Antonio’s imprisoned is about two hours away.
“Donald Trump said he was going after criminals,” U.S. Joaquin Castro, a San Antonio Democrat, said in a social media video posted Saturday. “He said he was going after people who were 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?
“They were safe enough to tour the White House. And yet, the Trump administration has them sitting in a prison,” Castro added, saying that he plans to visit the family Monday.
Antonio and Caleb were part of Mariachi Oro, which represents McAllen High School. Last month, Antonio was recognized by the Texas Music Educators Association as the top mariachi trumpeter in the state. The youngest brother, Joshua, is also a mariachi student.
“For McAllen, mariachi is like the ‘Friday Night Lights’ of high school,” Anthony Medrano, a prominent San Antonio mariachi musician, told the New York Times. “There’s pride in it.”
The family members are scheduled to see a judge on March 16 and hope to be released on habeas corpus, Martínez told the Times.
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