ICE detention of South Texas Mariachi band teens sparks bipartisan criticism

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The detention by U.S. immigration authorities of two teen brothers who were prominent members of a nationally recognized mariachi band in South Texas has triggered bipartisan criticism that the Trump administration’s campaign for mass deportation has overreached.

Brothers Antonio Gámez-Cuéllar, 18, and Joshua, 14, were detained along with their 12-year-old brother and their parents Feb. 25, according to a relative and a girlfriend who organized a GoFundMe account for the family. The family had been checking in regularly with immigration authorities, as instructed, when they were detained, the relative and girlfriend said.

The teenaged boys were prominent members of the McAllen High School Mariachi Oro band, which has visited the White House, performed at Carnegie Hall and won eight state championships.

Antonio was released Monday afternoon. Neither he nor his attorneys commented to reporters they left a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Raymondville, Texas.

The other four family members were released from a separate detention center for families in Dilley, Texas, said U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat who visited them at the center near San Antonio on Monday.

Castro had visited the facility before when he advocated for the release of a 5-year-old from Minnesota, Liam Conejo Ramos, and his Ecuadorian father.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said ICE had detained the parents, Emma Guadalupe Cuellar Lopez and Luis Antonio Gamez Martinez, and that they chose to bring their children with them. The family illegally entered the U.S. in 2023 near Brownsville, Texas, the spokesperson said, adding that the law requires them to be in custody while their asylum claims are heard.

“Unlike the previous administration, the Trump administration is not going to ignore the rule of law,” the statement said, noting that adult males without children — specifically, Antonio — are not detained at Dilley “for the safety of the children inside the facility.”

While the family may have entered the country illegally, it is legal for them to seek asylum.

Elected officials from across the political spectrum voiced support for the family, who are from Mexico and had sought asylum in the U.S. and were going through their immigration proceedings.

“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. These two things do not have to be in contradiction,” Rep. Monica de la Cruz, a Republican congresswoman representing McAllen, said after Antonio’s release.

McAllen’s Republican mayor, Javier Villalobos, said he supported the family and said he continues to advocate for “responsible pathways for law abiding individuals who want to contribute to our economy, support their families, and become productive neighbors in McAllen.”

U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, a New York Democrat and chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, called the family’s detention “outrageous.”

The boys’ mariachi directors visited the family held in Dilley earlier Monday. Alex Treviño, the mariachi director and Neri Fuentes, the assistant director, said the kids were concerned about losing their playing abilities.

“They were worried that their fingers weren’t going to work, because they don’t have instruments,” Treviño said.

Antonio, who had been held apart from the family due to his age, recently won the first chair for trumpet in a state competition.

“This year he’s going to be graduating from high school and going to college and joining some other groups in college. He wants to be a music educator,” Fuentes explained.