Two teenage brothers and mariachi stars who visited the White House last summer were released with their family on Monday from an ICE detention center in South Texas, immediately following the visit of a delegation of Democratic lawmakers who pressed for them to be freed.
The case had drawn national outrage, and Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas, who led the delegation, had been working to secure their release since the family was detained over a week ago.
On the drive to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center on Monday, Mr. Castro spoke to an ICE official out of the San Antonio field office and warned him that the story of the detained mariachi brothers was gaining national attention and would prompt an outcry from the public. He compared it to the backlash over images of Liam Ramos, the 5-year-old wearing a Spider-Man backpack and an oversize fluffy blue winter hat, being detained by agents after being stopped in Minneapolis with his father. Liam also ended up at Dilley and was released last month.
After visiting with the brothers, Antonio and Caleb Gámez-Cuéllar, and members of their family inside the detention center, Mr. Castro waited in the parking lot with other visiting lawmakers as they were processed for release.
“The mom is very heartbroken and upset, and she feels like her sons were used,” Mr. Castro said in an interview after visiting with her inside the facility. “She’s saying, ‘We followed all the rules; we went to our appointments; we haven’t done anything wrong.’ They’re very nervous, it’s so uncertain for them.”
The family entered the United States in 2023 at the border crossing in Brownsville, Texas, and claimed asylum, according to Luis Antonio Martínez, the father, who said they were fleeing threats in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, where he had been kidnapped by cartel members.
The delegation of lawmakers that visited the family with Mr. Castro included Representatives Nanette Barragán, Julia Brownley and Sara Jacobs, all of California; Katherine Clark of Massachusetts; Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania; and Jim McGovern of Massachusetts.
Representative Monica De La Cruz, the Republican lawmaker who represents the district where the family had settled and invited the band to Capitol Hill last year, had not yet visited the center. On Monday, after facing pressure over the case, she wrote on social media that she was working to “explore every legal option available to help the Gámez-Cuéllar family” and that she had requested a visit to a detention center in Raymondville where a third, older brother was being held.
She posted that she was on her way to meet with Antonio in Raymondville and then claimed credit for securing his release, writing in a news release that it followed her “direct advocacy with the White House” and homeland security officials.
Democratic lawmakers said the family members they met with on Monday expressed frustration that Ms. De La Cruz had not shown interest in their case until the public outcry.
“They said to me, ‘No, she hasn’t done anything, she isn’t helping us,’” Ms. Barragán said.
Last summer, the brothers were invited by Ms. De La Cruz to perform on Capitol Hill as part of a championship-winning mariachi group from McAllen. They also visited the White House.
On Monday, they were sitting in an ICE detention center, meeting with Democratic lawmakers who were trying to make the case that they were being unjustly detained and press for their release. They were quick to highlight the irony of celebrated young artists being imprisoned amid President Trump’s immigration crackdown, which he has said is focused on removing violent criminals from the United States.
The family was being held at a sprawling detention center in Dilley, Texas, that is a jumble of trailers in a desolate expanse about 70 miles south of San Antonio. It was built in 2014 and has been the main site for family detentions. Former President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. closed it in 2024. The Trump administration reopened it last year.
Another brother who is also a member of the mariachi group, Antonio, is 18 and being detained in a separate facility for adults, the El Valle Detention Center in Raymondville, Texas. He was also expected to be released on Monday.
Hundreds of people detained at the Dilley site had signed up ahead of time to meet with the visiting lawmakers, who set up shop in mini courtrooms inside the mammoth trailer prison to hear their stories.
“The people were there were so desperate,” Ms. Jacobs said after the visit. “I don’t care what their parents did; no kid should be living in that condition. The kids seemed really anxious and depressed. It was just really horrible situation. I felt like I should be apologizing on behalf of the United States.”
Some of the people being detained told the lawmakers that they had missed breakfast that morning, because nobody working at the facility had informed them of the time change because of daylight savings. One woman told Mr. McGovern that her son needed to be sedated to have 13 cavities filled, but medical help was not available.
In the past, people being kept there have complained that the food is full of worms and inedible, Mr. Castro said. One mother complained to him that her 5-year-old son’s stomach was distended because he had not been able to use the bathrooms in days. Detainees there also complained of the lights being kept on all night long, and freezing temperatures inside the facility. Until last week, Mr. Castro said, there were no educational materials for the children.
“Every parent is the same,” Mr. McGovern said. “If your kid doesn’t feel well, you’re out of your mind.”
After meeting with the Gámez-Cuéllar family on Monday, he expressed bewilderment and anger.
“I don’t even understand why they’re being detained,” he said. “This kid performed at the White House, and here he is with his family detained at this facility — this is like being in jail.”
He added: “I’m so sad this is happening in this country.”
Annie Karni is a congressional correspondent for The Times.
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