A mariachi musician arrested by federal immigration authorities performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” to commemorate the Fourth of July while locked up inside a Texas detention center where he is still being held.
Hebert Kaleth Ibarra Castro, 20, was four years old when he arrived in the U.S. with this family after fleeing violence in Mexico, according to Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro, who is advocating for his release. Hebert Castro was still wearing his mariachi attire after performing at a birthday party when he was arrested outside San Antonio last month.
On Thursday, as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center commemorated the country’s independence, Hebert Castro belted out a rendition of the national anthem alongside a display of fellow detainees’ red-white-and-blue handkerchiefs, according to The San Antonio Express. The facility’s warden recorded the performance.
The detention center plans to broadcast the performance in detainees’ housing units.
He is among thousands of immigrants targeted by Donald Trump’s administration in a government-wide effort to arrest and deport tens of thousands of people who have lived in the country for years without incident as part of a broad anti-immigration campaign.
Moments before his arrest on June 25, Castro texted his wife, who is a U.S. citizen, “Baby, I’ve been pulled over.”
According to the congressman, when Castro arrived at the South Texas ICE Processing Center roughly 55 miles outside San Antonio, a worker taunted him with a request: “If you sing me a song, I'll let you go.”
He remained in his traje de charro — a highly ornamented suit with a navy-blue shirt and black pants with silver buttons — for nearly 18 hours before he was allowed to shower and change in the early morning hours the day after his arrest, Castro said.
News of the alleged mockery has rallied mariachi performers across the country to demand his release.
“They can treat us this way and lock us up and chain us up like animals, but still request for us to sing a song that speaks about a land that is free,” Castro told The San Antonio Express.
The Department of Homeland Security said Castro will remain in custody while seeking his removal from the country. Several federal courts have recently blocked the Trump administration’s policy of detaining immigrants who do not pose a threat to their communities while they challenge their release; the government must hold a bond hearing within 90 days of their detention, a federal appeals court ruled this week.
In a statement, Homeland Security encouraged “all illegal immigrants” to “self-deport now.”
“If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return,” the agency said.
Castro — dubbed “El Nino” or “the kid” by members of his group Mariachi Los Galleros de San Antonio — plays the vihuela, a five-stringed, guitar-like instrument. The ensemble has performed across the state.
“Our hearts are heavy,” the group posted after his arrest.
“Our mariachi family is deeply saddened by the detention of our fellow musician and friend, Hebert. To us, he is more than a talented mariachi. He is a dedicated musician, a hardworking young man, and someone who has shared countless performances, rehearsals, and memories with us.”
Mariachi artists have rallied to support Heber in the weeks after his arrest, with San Antonio mariachi musician Anthony Medrano launching a “Play a Song for Hebert” campaign to draw attention to his arrest and detention.
“We need all musicians around the world to play a song for Hebert and post it here and demand that he is released,” the group wrote on Facebook.
This week, the campaign posted a video of mariachi artists performing the national anthem in response to an ICE agent’s alleged incredulity that Castro was familiar with the song.
“The reality is when you’ve lived in this country since you were a child you gain pride in it and you do celebrate it,” the post said.
His case is among several championed by Rep. Castro, who has repeatedly intervened to assist in the release of immigrants inside a sprawling network of ICE detention centers in rural Texas.
The congressman has repeatedly visited a trailer-filled detention center holding immigrants and their children and has warned that the facility lacks adequate medical treatment. Emergency crews have been dispatched to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center nearly a dozen times over the last several months, and staff have dialed 911 to report children with severe fever, broken bones, respiratory distress, seizures, plunging oxygen levels and other medical emergencies, including a pregnant woman who passed out.
Castro also helped secure the release of Liam Conejo Ramos, a five-year-old from Minnesota, who was detained at Dilley with his father in January after their arrest in suburban Minneapolis, an incident captured in a now-viral image of the preschooler standing in his frozen driveway.
Last month, the congressman helped release a 15-year-old high school student and his father from Dilley.
Castro also led a congressional delegation to Dilley to advocate for a group of mariachi students and their parents, drawing bipartisan pressure and national attention demanding their release.
Antonio Gámez-Cuéllar, 18, and his two younger brothers Caleb, 14, and Joshua, 12, and their parents were released from Dilley in March with the support of a Republican congresswoman.
“This day should not be about politics,” Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz said at the time. “What this day is about is about common sense enforcement policies. This is about our community coming together for, not only their family, but other families who are in similar situations.”
