Detained Family With Award-Winning Mariachi Ties Released

Throughout Texas and the country, the plight of the Gámez-Cuéllar family spread rapidly through headlines and social media. The family, which includes award-winning high-school mariachi players, had been detained at two separate facilities in Texas, after a routine immigration check-in last month. 

On Monday, March 9, all five members of the family were released from detention facilities in Texas. Four members of the family were at Dilley Detention Center, and 18-year-old Antonio was at El Valle Detention Center in Raymondville, nearly 200 miles away. 

Luis Antonio Gámez, Emma Guadalupe Cuéllar, and their three sons came to the United States in May 2023, through a Biden-era app known as CBP One. They were reportedly fleeing cartel violence in Mexico, and they settled into McAllen, Texas. Antonio and his brother Caleb, 14, were members of the award-winning McAllen High School mariachi band. They were invited by Rep. Monica de la Cruz to the U.S. Capitol after they won their latest state championship last year.

The family’s detainment sparked a huge public backlash, with many calls for them to be released. Over the weekend, de la Cruz released a statement decrying the detainment of the family. “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,” she said. 

On Monday, her office released another statement saying that she “secured release” of Antonio at El Valle Detention Center. However, in a video recorded after seeing the other four members of the Gámez-Cuéllar family at Dilley, Rep. Nanette Barragan said she asked if de la Cruz had been working to secure their release. The family did not, according to Barragan. 

Barragan was part of a congressional inspection of Dilley organized by Rep. Joaquin Castro. One of the most vocal opponents of detainment centers like Dilley, Castro said the public response to the family’s detention was similar to what occurred after photos spread of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos. The image of the young boy, in a blue winter cap, being detained outside Minneapolis went viral.

At a press conference in San Antonio, where the five members of the Gámez-Cuéllar family were reunited following their release, Castro spoke about his third inspection of Dilley in this second Trump administration. He noted that the number of detainees had dropped from 1,100 to 450 since his first visit, which he credited to public outcry over the facilities. 

However, Castro wanted to emphasize that there were still many children at Dilley. He mentioned that he met one boy, 4 or 5, who had such a swollen stomach because he had not had a bowel movement in 8 days. And that he was not receiving proper medical care.

“I don’t think anybody should be kept in that trailer prison, and most especially children,” said Castro. He said his ultimate goal is to shut down Dilley. His Democratic colleagues who were also inspecting the facility echoed his demand.

Rep. Sara Jacobs, who represents San Diego, said she had previously seen her “fair share” of detention centers. “The desperation of the people we met [at Dilley] was overwhelming,” she said at the press conference. Jacobs also said she met with so many detainees who came to the United States legally, or claimed asylum, or had TPS. “They did everything right,” she said.

San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones also spoke at the press conference. She reminded the crowd that ICE recently purchased the largest industrial warehouse in San Antonio. Ortiz Jones said that ever since that transaction, she nor anybody in her office, has heard from ICE about their plans for the facility.