RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas - U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar says public pressure forced the Trump administration to release the Gámez-Cuéllar family from detention.
Musician students Antonio (18), Caleb (14), Joshua (12), along with their parents, were released from ICE detention centers Monday following a public outcry. Their colleagues in McAllen ISD’s award-winning Mariachi Oro welcomed their colleagues home on Monday evening.
“Let me tell you what got this turned around. This got turned around because the public rose up to public officials. It was really the public that said you can't do this. And I agree with the public,” Cuellar said, in an exclusive interview with the Rio Grande Guardian.
As first reported by journalist and anthropologist Cecilia Balli, the Gámez-Cuéllar family came to the United States legally in May 2023 through the CBP One process while seeking asylum after fleeing violence in their home region of Mexico. They passed a credible fear screening and followed the legal immigration process, attending all required ICE check-ins and court appointments. Their final immigration hearing is scheduled for September 2026.
On February 25, the parents were instructed to report to an ICE appointment and bring their sons with them, Balli reported. When the family arrived as directed, they were detained and transferred to immigration detention centers.
The parents and two younger sons, Caleb (14) and Joshua (12), were taken to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. Because their older son Antonio had recently turned 18, he was separated from his parents and brothers and transferred alone to the El Valle Detention Facility in Raymondville, Texas.
U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz was there to greet Antonio Gámez-Cuéllar when he was released from the Raymondville facility. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro was there to greet the rest of the Gámez-Cuéllar family when they were released from the Dilley facility.
Cuellar had been working behind the scenes to have the family released for the past week. He had been tipped off that the family had been detained by Rio Grande City Commissioner and legendary RGV band leader Rogerio Olivarez, Jr.
“This should have never happened. In the past, we had appropriation language for ICE that said that ICE will prioritize criminals, people that are a risk to the national interest, people that have final deportation orders. And we’ve got about 1.7 million people with final deportation orders. But what happened was, under the first Trump administration, with all due respect, the Republicans took out the language we added in 2008,” Cuellar said.
“So, now as a ranking Democrat, I will push to put that language added back again. If we (Democrats) take the majority (in 2027), I become chairman of Homeland Appropriations. And, as I said, I will definitely put that language back in, where ICE will be forced to prioritize criminals. If they would have prioritized criminals, they would have not gone after the Gámez-Cuéllar family.”
Cuellar said unlike many of his Democratic colleagues, he still supports keeping ICE. He said it needs reforming, not abolishing.
