Two months after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in South Texas, the Mariachi Brothers will open for country star Kacey Musgraves during a series of shows in the Lone Star State.
Musgraves announced the surprise collaboration with the Gámez-Cuéllar brothers (Antonio, 18, Caleb, 15, and Joshua, 12) in an Instagram post Tuesday morning. They will be opening for the “Space Cowboy” singer at the famous Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas on May 3, 4 and 5.
The brothers were members of McAllen High School's prestigious Mariachi Oro band, which is one of the most decorated youth mariachi groups in the country. The band has performed at such illustrious venues as New York's Carnegie Hall and the United States Capitol.
The Gámez-Cuéllar family first made headlines when the brothers and their parents were detained by ICE on February 25 after a routine immigration check. The older brother was sent to a detention center in Raymondville, Texas, while the rest of the family was sent to Texas' notorious Dilley Immigration Processing Center.
Department of Homeland Security officials told the Associated Press at the time of the arrest that only his parents, Emma Guadalupe Cuéllar López and Luis Antonio Gámez Martínez, were to be detained, but that they “chose” to take their children with them. The DHS also claimed that they had entered the United States illegally near Brownsville, Texas, in 2023.
In an interview with the New York Times, the family patriarch refuted the DHS claim, maintaining that the family had entered the country legally through an asylum application.
After the family was detained, Democratic Rep. Joaquín Castro of San Antonio posted a video on Instagram denouncing ICE's actions.
“Donald Trump said he was going after criminals,” Castro said in the social media clip. “[These kids] they were safe enough to tour the White House. And yet, the Trump administration has them in a prison.”
Outrage also came from the other side of the political aisle, when Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas, condemned the family's plight.
“The story of the Gámez-Cuéllar family 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,” De La Cruz said in a statement. “I have repeatedly urged that law enforcement focus on those who truly threaten our communities, not on good, law-abiding, talented people who are working the legal process.”
On March 9, all family members were released after a growing public press campaign.
After their release, Musgraves, a long-time fan of Mexico's many musical styles, republished an article about the brothers' release with the caption: “Cool, so come ride with me.”
