A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
For many migrants detained by ICE, their story does not end well. They're targets in the latest and most aggressive immigration crackdown in modern U.S. history. But in Texas, the saga of three young Mexican brothers who play mariachi music together caught the attention of a country music superstar. NPR's Sergio Martínez-Beltrán has that story.
SERGIO MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN, BYLINE: This doesn't happen often at all. I've covered immigration over the last few years, and not a lot of detained immigrants are released under the Trump administration. They're held for long periods of time, and most are ultimately deported. The few who are released face many challenges. So when I heard that country superstar Kacey Musgraves was inviting the Gamez-Cuellar mariachi brothers to open her sold-out Texas concerts, I had to go see it.
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THE MARIACHI BROTHERS: (Singing in Spanish).
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: The concert was in the city of New Braunfels at Gruene Hall, the oldest continuously operating dancehall in the state. And it was packed - about 800 people dancing and listening to the brothers open the show. Antonio, Caleb and Joshua - ages 18, 15 and 12 - are carrying forward a tradition that started five generations ago in their family. That's a fact Musgraves acknowledged.
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KACEY MUSGRAVES: From San Luis Potosi, Mexico, all the way to this historic stage at Gruene Hall...
(CHEERING)
MUSGRAVES: ...Their journey is just getting started.
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: The brothers told me stepping on stage in front of a packed house was incredibly nerve-racking but also exciting.
ANTONIO GAMEZ-CUELLAR: (Speaking Spanish).
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: Eighteen-year-old Antonio, the eldest, says that it fills their heart to have Kacey Musgraves embrace them after what happened. The three brothers and their parents were detained by ICE earlier this year during a routine check-in. They came legally to the U.S. in 2023 and were waiting for their asylum claim to be heard. They were released after two weeks following a bipartisan uproar, a rare thing in Texas. And now they're opening for and playing with an eight-time Grammy winner.
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MUSGRAVES: (Singing) Here in Uncertain, Texas...
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: Fifteen-year-old Caleb says the brothers are grateful.
CALEB GAMEZ-CUELLAR: (Speaking Spanish).
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: "My takeaway from all of this is that I felt loved by hundreds of people," he says.
For these brothers, ICE changed their lives by locking them up and separating their family. And Musgraves changed their lives once again by bringing this mariachi family on stage together to perform. That doesn't happen often.
Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, NPR News, New Braunfels, Texas.
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MUSGRAVES: Here we go. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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