A week ago, ICE detained three young brothers from McAllen – mariachis whose lives revolved around school performances, competitions and the music of the Rio Grande Valley – along with their parents. Now musicians, educators and elected officials across Texas are rallying behind the family, calling for their release and urging federal authorities to bring them home.
The brothers and their parents, asylum seekers, were detained Feb. 25 after appearing for what relatives describe as a routine ICE appointment in Edinburg, Texas. The brothers are stars in McAllen’s school mariachi programs. Antonio and Caleb perform with McAllen High School’s Mariachi Oro, one of the country’s most decorated student mariachi ensembles. Their younger brother Joshua performs in the mariachi program at Travis Middle School.
The oldest brother, Antonio Gámez-Cuéllar, who turned 18 weeks earlier, was separated from the family and transferred to the El Valle detention facility in Raymondville, more than 200 miles away.
His parents and younger brothers, Caleb, 14, and Joshua, 12, were taken to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley – the same facility where 5-year-old asylum seeker Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, detained by ICE outside their Minneapolis home, were held earlier this year before a federal judge in San Antonio ordered their release.
The mariachi brothers’ detention has reverberated through Texas’s tight-knit mariachi community, with mariachis, elected officials from across party lines, and supporters sharing their performances on social media. Their plea: listen to their songs. Listen to their story.
Their arrests come amid ramped-up immigration enforcement under the Trump administration. Federal officials have expanded arrests and detention of migrants across the country, including people with no criminal convictions whose immigration cases are still pending.
According to data compiled by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, ICE was holding about 68,000 people in detention as of early February. Nearly three-quarters had no criminal convictions. Texas holds the largest share of detainees in the country.
READ ALSO: ‘Trapped’ by ICE: Texas teen and mother detained during a routine check-in
Antonio, a senior at McAllen High School, recently earned first chair trumpet in the Texas Music Educators Association All-State Mariachi ensemble – the top trumpet position in the state. Caleb plays guitar, vihuela, guitarrón, and harp. He earned third chair guitarrón in the same ensemble. Joshua has already distinguished himself as a middle school vocalist, recently earning first-chair tenor vocals in a regional competition and was named a national finalist in the Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza.
Antonio dreams of attending Texas State University in San Marcos, performing with its collegiate mariachi program and eventually becoming a music educator himself.
Relatives say the family fled Mexico about three years ago after the father, Luis Antonio Gámez, a mariachi, was attacked following a dispute tied to a mariachi performance.
The family is from San Luis Potosí. Relatives say a group demanded the mariachis perform songs associated with Santa Muerte, a folk religious figure sometimes linked to criminal groups. The family, who practice Christianity, refused. Cartel members then kidnapped and assaulted the father.
“They feared for their lives,” said 19-year-old Ezra Cavazos, Antonio’s girlfriend.
The family entered the United States in May 2023 through the CBP One asylum appointment system, passed a credible fear screening, and began the asylum process. For nearly two years, they attended immigration hearings and regular check-ins with ICE while waiting for their case to move forward. Their final immigration hearing had been scheduled for September.
Anthony Medrano, a longtime San Antonio mariachi performer and educator, said he first learned about the family’s detention after a teacher in the Rio Grande Valley reached out asking for help spreading the word.
Soon, Medrano began sharing videos of the boys performing on social media.
“We must be their voice!” he said. “We are an army of mariachi-loving and immigrant-respecting warriors, and each one is doing what needs to be done to free this family.”
In Facebook posts, he shared videos that quickly spread across social media. One shows Joshua singing, another highlights Caleb’s statewide accomplishments, and a third features Antonio performing.
“Listen to Antonio on his trumpet solo. He is the 18-year-old locked up in an ICE detention center,” Medrano wrote. “Listen to Joshua sing…. he is not a criminal. Listen to Caleb play his harp. Free Caleb.”
Speaking about the brothers during an interview with the Express-News, Medrano’s voice cracked as he described the pain many mariachis feel watching young performers caught in the immigration system.
“You’re OK to have us at your parties, you know, to say you’re culturally connected,” he said. “But then when we’re detained and incarcerated, you don’t see us anymore.”
Family members say that while the family had an attorney for their ongoing case, the escalation requires more legal help. A GoFundMe organized by relatives and supporters had raised more than $20,000 by Sunday morning to help cover legal fees and other expenses while the family remains in detention.
The detention has been especially difficult for the boys. Antonio is alone in Raymondville, separated from his parents and brothers for the first time. Caleb worries about spending his birthday in detention. Joshua has been pulled away from school, rehearsals, and the performances he had been preparing for.
For Cavazos, who met her boyfriend, Antonio, through the school’s mariachi program, the reality of the detention became clear when she visited him at the Raymondville facility last week. His vibrant mariachi uniform was replaced with a navy-blue detention uniform, used for detainees classified as the lowest security risk.
“He cried when he came to hug me,” she said. “You could see it in his face and his eyes. He was exhausted.”
As mariachis across Texas and beyond rally for intervention and share videos of the brothers performing online, Cindy Shea – founder of the Grammy-winning Mariachi Divas in Los Angeles – has added her voice. Shea, who has taught Antonio, posted a message calling for action: “Justice for Antonio and his family.”
The detention silenced the brothers’ school ensemble. Members of McAllen High School’s mariachi program withdrew from a competition after the brothers were detained, Antonio’s girlfriend said.
“It didn’t feel right to compete without them,” Cavazos said. “Their heart ached for them.”
Their detention has become a political flashpoint, with some Texas politicians hurling blame at one another.
U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, was among the first elected officials to publicly condemn the arrests, writing that the family had followed the proper immigration process while seeking asylum.
“This family followed the appropriate process and procedures, yet this administration is actively tearing them apart,” Gonzalez wrote. “They are proven contributing members of our community.”
Tejano musician Bobby Pulido, the Democratic nominee for Texas’ 15th Congressional District, soon amplified the brothers’ story in a video posted online. Pulido pointed to videos and photos from last summer showing the students performing in Washington with McAllen High School’s Mariachi Oro during a congressional event hosted by Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz.
“These are good kids, talented kids, mariachi students who have represented South Texas with pride on some of the biggest stages in this country,” Pulido said. “The truth is, these kids are not criminals. They are students, musicians.”
READ MORE: Rio Grande Valley politicians condemn ICE detention of McAllen mariachi students
On Saturday, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, escalated the criticism and said he plans to visit the family Monday at the detention center in Dilley, where the parents and two younger brothers are being held.
Castro said he met Antonio and Caleb at the congressional event in Washington recognizing Mariachi Oro’s musical achievements. In a video posted online, he contrasted that moment with their current detention.
“Donald Trump said he was going after criminals,” Castro said. “How is it that these young men were good enough to perform at the United States Capitol – and now they’re sitting in a detention center?”
De La Cruz had posted on social media, saying her office was monitoring.
“The Gamez-Cuellar family’s story breaks my heart,” she wrote. “South Texans know better than anyone that we can secure our border and still treat people with dignity – these are not competing values. 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.”
Later Saturday night, she posted an update saying she had requested a visit to the detention facility in Raymondville and had been in contact with federal agencies and community leaders to explore all legal options. She called the family “our neighbors, friends, and valued members of the community.”
McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos also weighed in Sunday, saying he supports law enforcement and border security but opposes some current immigration enforcement policies.
“While I support ICE and understand they have a job to do, I cannot accept some current enforcement policies,” he wrote.
Organizers have called for demonstrations outside the El Valle Detention Facility in Raymondville, where Antonio is being held. Protests are planned for Sunday afternoon and 11 a.m. Monday.
On Sunday, Antonio’s girlfriend drove about 45 minutes to visit him at the facility, but she was told all visits had been canceled. She was given no reason.
A security officer told the Express-News, “It’s canceled for today, and I can’t give you the reason why.”
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