By Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN
(CNN) — Calls are mounting for the release of three promising young mariachi musicians who have been held in ICE detention for nearly two weeks after they and their parents were detained by the Department of Homeland Security in Texas.
Less than a year ago, the two eldest brothers were recognized on Capitol Hill for their award-winning performances in a premier high school mariachi group. Word of the talented musicians’ detention has spread through their hometown of McAllen, Texas, and the active community of mariachi musicians in the area and around the nation, as some state leaders decry DHS tactics that have again landed children in federal custody.
The young musicians join a growing list of children and teens swept up in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, including 5-year-old Liam Ramos, whose image gripped hearts around the world when he was detained in Minneapolis wearing a bunny hat and sent to the South Texas Family Residential Center, an ICE detention center in Texas, before his release.
Caleb Gámez-Cuéllar, 14, and Joshua Gámez-Cuéllar, 12, are being held with their parents at that same Dilley facility, while their 18-year-old brother, Antonio Gámez-Cuéllar, is in a separate facility away from his family, DHS told CNN.
The brothers’ parents, Emma Guadalupe Cuéllar Lopez and Luis Antonio Gámez Martinez, were arrested by ICE on February 25, according to DHS, which said the two had been living in the US illegally. The family entered the US illegally in 2023 near Brownsville, Texas, according to DHS.
“They chose to bring their adult son and two children with them,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.
“ICE does not separate families. Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates,” the statement said. “In strict accordance with ICE policy, adult males without children are NOT housed at the Dilley facility for the safety of the children inside the facility.”
The Dilley facility is retrofitted for families, with classrooms and educational materials, according to DHS.
But immigration advocates and attorneys have spoken out in recent months about harmful conditions at the facility, including children getting sick and being denied adequate medical care and proper food.
“The law requires illegal aliens who show up at a port of entry without valid entry to be detained while all their claims are heard … Unlike the previous administration, the Trump administration is not going to ignore the rule of law,” the DHS statement said.
US Rep. Joaquin Castro, who met two of the brothers during their trip to Capitol Hill last year, said he has been in touch with the family and is doing what he can to help, including meeting with them during a planned visit to the Dilley facility Monday.
“Donald Trump said he was going after criminals. He said he was going after people who are 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?” Castro said in a video posted over the weekend, decrying the family’s detention. “They were safe enough to tour the White House, and yet the Trump administration has them sitting in a prison in Dilley, Texas.”
US Rep. Monica De La Cruz, who congratulated the brothers’ high school mariachi group in June, said she has requested a visit to the El Valle Detention Center in Raymondville, Texas, where the eldest brother is being held.
“I am troubled by the news surrounding the Gámez-Cuéllar family. As I have consistently said, enforcement resources should be focused on individuals with criminal records — a secure border and commonsense policies must go hand-in-hand,” De La Cruz said in a statement on Facebook.
Protesters gathered outside the El Valle facility Monday to demand the brothers’ release.
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