Texas lawmakers criticize ICE for detaining two teen mariachi musicians

Texas lawmakers from both parties have criticized immigration authorities for detaining two teenage mariachi musicians who were honored by Congress last year.The case has drawn national attention because the brothers, Antonio Yesayahu Gámez-Cuéllar, 18, and Caleb Gámez-Cuéllar, 14, travelled to Washington DC last summer after their high school’s mariachi ensemble, Mariachi Ono, won a state mariachi competition. Their congresswoman, Monica De La Cruz, invited them to the House floor, where she celebrated their accomplishment.Late last month, the brothers and their parents, Luis Antonio Martínez and Emma Guadalupe Cuéllar, as well as their younger brother Joshua Gámez-Cuéllar, 12, were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to Texas representatives.In a statement on Saturday, De La Cruz, a Republican whose district includes McAllen, where the family live, said that the family’s story “breaks my heart”.“South Texans know better than anyone that we can secure our border and still treat people with dignity – these are not competing values,” she said.“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. My office is closely monitoring their situation and we are doing all we can.”De La Cruz said later on Saturday that she had requested a visit to the detention facility and had “been in close communication with DHS, ICE, Border Patrol, and community leaders to explore every legal option available for the Gámez-Cuéllar family”.The Democratic representative Joaquin Castro of Texas said over the weekend that the parents and two youngest sons were being held at a family detention center in Dilley, Texas, while Antonio, who recently turned 18, is being held at a separate adult facility.Castro said that he met Antonio and Caleb at the congressional event last year.“The entire Gámez-Cuéllar family did everything the right way” Castro said. “They applied for and were granted asylum. They attended every court date and immigration check-in. ICE detained them anyway.”“Donald Trump said he was going after criminals, 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 in Dilley, Texas?”The father, Luis Antonio Martínez, told the New York Times last week that the family had entered the US in 2023 at the Brownsville border crossing on an asylum claim after fleeing threats in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, where he said he had been kidnapped by cartel members.They settled in McAllen, and had been attending required court dates and check-ins. Martínez said that their last ICE appointment was in January, where they were told to return in June.However, Martínez said that he later received a call from ICE instructing them to report on 25 February and it was at that appointment that the family was detained, according to the New York Times.In a statement on Monday, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said that ICE detained the parents on 25 February, who they said were in the country illegally. The spokesperson said the parents “chose to bring their adult son and two children with them”.“ICE does not separate families,” the spokesperson said. “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. This is consistent with past administration’s immigration enforcement.”