GRUENE, Texas — Kacey Musgraves is bringing her country roots to Texas’ oldest dance hall, along with three special guests who were recently caught in the crosshairs of the nation’s immigration crackdown.
Musgraves is performing May 3, 4 and 5 at the historic Gruene Hall in New Braunfuls with young brothers Antonio, Caleb and Joshua Gámez-Cuéllar, acclaimed mariachi performers from the Rio Grande Valley. Federal immigration authorities detained the brothers, along with their parents, on Feb. 25 after a routine U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) appointment in Edinburg.
The Gámez-Cuéllar brothers — Antonio is 18, Caleb is 14 and Joshua is 12 — are stars in the mariachi programs at their McAllen schools, the San Antonio Express-News reports, and they performed at a congressional event at the White House just last year.
Their detainment caused an uproar in their community, with U.S. Reps. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, and Monica De La Cruz, R-Edinburg, efforting their release at the time.
According to the Express-News, the brothers and their parents entered the U.S. through the CBP One app in May 2023 and began the asylum process, which included nearly two years of hearings and check-ins with ICE.
Though Musgraves hasn’t released a statement about the incident, her inclusion of the Gámez-Cuéllar brothers as openers signals support from someone who has been vocal about immigration issues in the past. In a post on X last June, Musgraves criticized ICE officers wearing face masks.
“If protesters can’t wear masks ICE shouldn’t be able to either,” Musgraves said in her post.
The Texas native has also been embracing Tejano music as of late, collaborating with Mexican singer-songwriter Carín León to perform their bilingual song “Lost in Translation” at last year’s Latin Grammys.
Musgrave’s upcoming performance at Gruene Hall is to promote her upcoming studio album, “Middle of Nowhere,” which debuts May 1. Tickets go on sale Tuesday at 10 a.m. CT.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source spectrumlocalnews.com ’
