By Rep. Sara Jacobs
WASHINGTON, D.C. –Last summer, teenagers Antonio and Caleb Gámez-Cuéllar performed on Capitol Hill at the invitation of their Member of Congress. While they were in DC, they visited the White House.
Less than a year later, they had been detained and unjustly put in ICE custody.
Caleb and his parents, along with a younger brother, were at the Dilley detention center in South Texas for more than a week. Antonio wasn’t with them — he’s 18, and had been taken to a different detention center for adults.
I visited Dilley recently with some of my fellow House Democrats, and I am so relieved to be able to say that the entire Gámez-Cuéllar family is coming home.
The Gámez-Cuéllar family followed the rules. They came into the country at a border crossing in Brownsville and claimed asylum. They attended court dates and check-ins.
ICE detained them anyway — like so many others.
Donald Trump and Stephen Miller are asking us to believe their brutal immigration enforcement regime is about deporting criminals. Instead, we have to trust our own eyes and ears: It’s not about crime. It’s about cruelty.
I will not stop fighting to end mass detention and shut down the horrific detention centers that are profiting from human rights abuses. Today is a reminder that these fights can be won.
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Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-California) represents San Diego in Congress.