{"id":198280,"date":"2026-03-10T14:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T14:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/198280\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T14:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T14:12:10","slug":"3-south-texas-brothers-champion-mariachi-students-released-after-public-pressure-over-ice-detention-houston-public-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/198280\/","title":{"rendered":"3 South Texas brothers, champion mariachi students released after public pressure over ICE detention \u2013 Houston Public Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\"Courtesy:Courtesy: Rep. Joaquin Castro (D, San Antonio) after the family was released on Monday, March 9, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sign up for TPR Today<\/a>, Texas Public Radio\u2019s newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.<\/p>\n

Three South Texas brothers and mariachi musicians are being released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after public pressure and intervention from members of Congress.<\/p>\n

Antonio and Caleb Gamez-Cuellar and their younger brother Joshua had been detained on Feb. 25 along with their parents after a routine immigration check-in.<\/p>\n

The brothers are mariachi musicians from McAllen who had participated in student competitions tied to the Mariachi Extravaganza.<\/p>\n

\"AntonioAntonio Yesayahu G\u00e1mez-Cu\u00e9llar after his release from the ICE detention facility in Dilley, Texas on March 9, 2026. (Anthony Medrano | Courtesy photo)<\/p>\n

The case also drew attention from South Texas political leaders and public figures. U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, a Republican who represents the Rio Grande Valley, spoke publicly about the family\u2019s detention. Tejano singer Bobby Pulido, a Democrat challenging her for the seat in November, also posted a video urging support for the students and their family.<\/p>\n

Alex Garcia, stage production manager for the annual Mariachi Extravaganza, remembers the students as committed and loyal to their craft.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were just so happy to be there. They had so much pride in knowing that they\u2019re representing this precious culture of ours in such a beautiful way,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n

Garcia added that the cultural fabric of Texas, California and other states is closely intertwined with mariachi music communities.<\/p>\n

Support from the mariachi community helped bring wider attention to the family\u2019s detention.<\/p>\n

\"McAllenMcAllen High School Mariachi Oro (Alex Garcia | Courtesy photo)<\/p>\n

Activist Anthony Medrano with Viva Politics traveled to the detention center in Dilley on Monday and said the situation is not a question of which political party is ahead in the polls.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe win needs to go to the people. The win needs to go to the migrants who are stuck in these detention centers without any voice,\u201d Medrano said.<\/p>\n

Family members said the brothers\u2019 cousin, Denise Robles, traveled to the ICE detention facility in Dilley to pick them up and help them return home.<\/p>\n

Medrano said U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, a San Antonio Democrat, was in Dilley on Monday to check on the family.<\/p>\n

Castro and other U.S. Representatives met at San Antonio City Hall Monday for a press conference after that trip to Dilley and called for the release of other families from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention.<\/p>\n

\"Rep.Rep. Joaquin Castro was joined by Rep. Natalie Barragan and Rep. Madeline Dean at a press conference at San Antonio City Hall on Monday, March 9, 2026. (Kory Cook | TPR)<\/p>\n

Madeline Dean represents parts of Pennsylvania and said what she saw at the Dilley ICE facility is simply un-American.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people who are there, they are fearful,\u201d said Dean. \u201cThey are from Russia, Egypt, Colombia, Honduras, Venezuela, other countries that I\u2019m not even coming across right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dean said $13 million a month is being charged to the U.S. government to operate the Dilley unit.<\/p>\n

Castro said the Gamez-Cuellar family was released from detention, but his work is not finished.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d said very clearly that my goal is to shut down Dilley,\u201d said Castro. \u201cI don\u2019t think anybody should be kept in that trailer prison \u2014 and most especially children. We met more children today who have been traumatized by the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: Pediatricians send letter to DHS demanding release of children in ICE detention<\/a><\/p>\n

Castro shared examples of the effects of the deplorable conditions of those detained and the inadequate and often cruel treatment they receive. He described a young boy with a swollen stomach from lack of food and a pregnant woman lacking medical care.<\/p>\n

This was Castro\u2019s third trip to Dilley. Castro said there are fewer people in detention compared to the first time he visited, but there\u2019s still a lot of work to be done. He plans to return to Dilley on March 20.<\/p>\n

Castro had been instrumental in the case of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos<\/a>, whose detention in early 2026 was another flashpoint in the debate on immigration detention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Courtesy: Rep. Joaquin Castro (D, San Antonio) after the family was released on Monday, March 9, 2026. Sign…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1829,1724,3647,5348,223,287,27,29,28,2053,12733,78334],"class_list":{"0":"post-198280","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-ice","9":"tag-immigration","10":"tag-immigration-and-customs-enforcement","11":"tag-mariachi","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-politics","14":"tag-texas","15":"tag-texas-headlines","16":"tag-texas-news","17":"tag-top-stories","18":"tag-tpr","19":"tag-tpr-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}