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First of All with Victor Blackwell

Supreme Court Limits Reach Of The Voting Rights Act; Congress Ends Record Shutdown At The Department Of Homeland Security; Conservative Mississippi City Rallies Around Detained Brothers; All Four Current Black GOP House Member Set To Leave Congress; 10-year-old Venezuelan Boy In Houston Faces Deportation After Appearing Alone In Immigration Court. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired May 02, 2026 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[08:00:30]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: You know, first of all, a lot of those same politicians who are quick to post a quote from Dr. King on his birthday are moving even faster to undo a key part of one of his greatest achievements, the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

A ruling from the Supreme Court this week will make it harder to prove discrimination in redistricting, which the liberal justices condemned as the court's now demolition of the Voting Rights Act. We're seeing what that looks like in practice in the south.

Today, in Louisiana, there is early voting for primary elections happening May 16. Voters will see U.S. House raises on the ballot. But those elections have now been postponed until a new map is drawn. Civil rights organizations have found legal challenges.

Republican governors in Alabama and Tennessee want to redraw their maps, too. Both states announced special legislative sessions for next week. A big early test for the ruling's impact will be in Mississippi. Black voters there challenge the map for the state Supreme Court seats. But the state is already calling for a special session to address that map, too.

And some Republicans also have their sights set on Congressman Bennie Thompson's district. His district is home to the largest percentage of black voters in the country. It's the only majority minority district in the state.

And Congressman Thompson is with me now. He's also the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee. We'll talk about that in a moment. Congressman, good to have you back.

Are you surprised? Because there are some people who are surprised by the rate at which, the speed with which these changes are coming after the ruling from the Supreme Court? REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS): Absolutely not, Victor. It is clear to those of us who live this every day that all the Republicans in the south have been waiting on was for this decision. Everything was already inset. And what we have now obviously is an execution of what they wanted to do all along. This is just Jim Crow 2.0 from the standpoint of redistricting.

BLACKWELL: And so I know you're in Mississippi, but let me ask you in the context, if you say Jim Crow 2.0, the Attorney General in Alabama and they're working to redraw their map, say that Alabama at least of 2026 is not the Alabama of the early 1960s. It's a different time in a new era. What do you say to that sentiment?

THOMPSON: Well, but that's because you have the guardrails that have been here in the past with the Voting Rights Act left to its own accord, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana will go back to pre-voting rights time. It's been the guardrails that's created opportunity for people like me and others to hold elective office.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about where you are there in Mississippi. Before the ruling, the governor there, Tate Reeves, said that there would be a special session soon after the ruling. When it came, it now has come down and they're planning to begin that. You're the only Democrat in the Mississippi congressional delegation.

And Mississippi's auditor said Mississippi might no longer have a district drawn to protect Bennie Thompson. State Senator Kevin Blackwell said it's time to erase your district.

You're also the only black member of Congress from the state with the highest percentage of black residents in the country. Do you expect that your district will be redrawn for a Republican advantage?

THOMPSON: Well, let me set the table. Black people make up 38 percent of the population in Mississippi. We have four members of Congress. That means that black people should at least at a minimum, have one representative.

What you see is exactly what I've been talking about. Given an opportunity left to themselves without any guardrails, white Republican elected officials would wipe out every opportunity for black people to be elected.

And so this Supreme Court issue that was decided in favor of the black community is now being challenged by the governor with a new redistricting plan.

So look, Victor, I've lived in Mississippi my whole life. I would not be an elected official had it not been for the Voting Rights Act.

[08:05:05]

I would not have been a registered voter had it not been for the Voting Rights Act. The local officials in Mississippi wouldn't even register people to vote. And so we have to have in this great democracy some foundation of principles of equality. If local officials won't do it, then obviously the federal government has to do it.

And so what our Supreme Court has done with this decision is moved us back over 60 years. And we are going to fight for it. We're going to do everything we can. But our challenge right now is to take it step by step.

Look at what they're doing in Louisiana. As you said, they're trying to stop the election and take representation from the black community with no remorse at all. They just want to do it. So clearly we have a fight ahead of us. Those of us who've been in this battle forever will continue in most of these states, Victor, nobody has said this. All of these districts were drawn by Republicans and approved by Republican legislature.

This district that I have, there have been three sessions of the Mississippi legislature in 30 years, all Republican. And they've drawn my district.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

THOMPSON: So now they say the district they drew is a gerrymandered district. But now the court gives them a right to take that away. And that's why we have to fight.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about one other element here. Of course, as I said, you're ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee. DHS now open after 75 or so day shutdown, longest in U.S. history. The purpose of Democrats withholding their votes in February was to get some reforms on ICE and CBP protocols, getting rid of the mask, judicial warrants and the rest, those were not accomplished. The funding goes through the end of September, so about five months.

Do you think that Republicans should try again to get those? Do you think that it's worth withholding those votes again to try to get some of those assurances from the Department of Homeland Security?

THOMPSON: There's no question, Victor, in America, police shouldn't wear a mask walking the street. They need identification. They need cameras. And judicial warrants are a factor of law. So to operate outside the framework of law is not who we are as a country.

BLACKWELL: And so, Congressman, let me know, let me just get clarity and I'm going to let you finish your answer here. When you say absolutely, that suggests that there could be another shutdown and there could be another lapse in pay for those TSA workers, the Coast Guard, If Republicans withhold -- Democrats withhold those votes at the end of September.

THOMPSON: Absolutely. Yes. Victor, look, we have to stand for democracy. Democracy says that in America we have to know who's knocking at our door, if they want to come in. That's just the foundational premise. And so if we have to fight for it, there has to be sacrifice. Some people in other sacrifices and civil rights, voting rights, they even lost their life. And so we have to stand on principle. And Democrats in this instance will stand on the principles of law. BLACKWELL: And I will say that having had union representatives here,

the issue is the sacrifice of those TSA workers who will then go through, what, a fourth shutdown in a year, less than a year again, we'll see what happens at the end of September when that financing. I got it --

THOMPSON: Those folk who -- those folk who talk about the TSA workers didn't want to give them a pay raise. They didn't want them to organize a union. And now all of a sudden, they worried about the workers. Give me a break. You got to stand for something. The union is

important. The pay for the workers imported, and that's who Democrats stand for.

BLACKWELL: I appreciate that. I hear you, Congressman, but you're getting paid. They won't be if the government shut down -- shuts down again. At least the DHS, the Department of Homeland Security. Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, I thank you for your time.

All right. If the current trend sticks, there will be no black Republicans in the House next year. Zero. I'm going to get reaction from someone who pushed his party to recruit diverse candidates in the past. Former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will be here. He's going to react to that effort apparently coming undone.

Plus, I'll speak with two teenagers who were just released from ICE detention after their community in Ruby Red, Mississippi, rose up to get them freed and back home.

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[08:14:37]

BLACKWELL: Well, if you go almost as far southwest as you can in the state of Mississippi, you'll run into the small city of Diamondhead. There are only about 9,400 people who live there. In one of the reddest parts of deep red Mississippi. Hancock County overwhelmingly voted for President Donald Trump in the last three presidential elections. And Diamond Head, every single council member, the mayor, the Republican.

[08:15:00]

So when ICE came to town to carry out one of the President's campaign promises to crack down on immigrants, there was not much protest until they picked up the Makoka brothers. 18-year old Israel, 15-year-old max. They've been living with the Baptiste family in Diamondhead.

They're originally from the Republic of Congo and they were here on student visas. But on April 21, as they were waiting for their bus after, ICE agents took them, they said they violated their visas by transferring schools.

The neighbors rallied around the teens they've known for years. They started petitions. They shared the brother's story on social media. The mayor of Diamondhead, Republican Anna DeMarco Liese, she had this to say about the brothers.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MAYOR ANNA DEMARCO LIESE, DIAMONDHEAD, MISSISSIPPI: We tend to think that things like this only happen in big cities and sanctuary cities and, but not here in our backyard. And it's shocking when it doesn't. We as a community are deeply concerned about the welfare and fate of these two boys. And by all accounts they are model students and model citizens.

And you know, we have tremendous respect for the law and we understand that the law needs to be followed, but it doesn't surpass our concern for them and their well-being.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And within days, this story reached Mississippi's Republican lawmakers, including Representative Mike Ezell, Senators Cindy Hyde-Smith and Roger Wicker. They intervened and got in contact with federal agencies and it worked. Less than two weeks later, the Makoka brothers are home. They were just released and reunited on Thursday.

And Israel and Max are with us now, along with their host mom, Gail Baptiste. Welcome to you all.

Israel, let me start with you. You were waiting for the school bus. This was April 21st. You were taken into custody by these ICE agents. What did they tell you was happening? What did you hear from them?

ISRAEL MAKOKA, 18-YEAR-OLD STUDENT FROM REPUBLIC OF CONGO: All I heard from them is I was about to go to jail and getting transferred to Jen in Louisiana.

BLACKWELL: They were about to -- they say you were -- they were taking you to jail. And Max, you were separated. What went through your mind when, after this arrest, your brother went in one direction and you went into another?

MAX MAKOKA, 15-YEAR-OLD STUDENT FROM REPUBLIC OF CONGO: I was just confused. I didn't know what, what was going to happen. I was just my mind all the time. I was really confused about that situation.

BLACKWELL: Gail, when did you hear about this? I mean, these are your boys have been snatched up. How did you hear about it and what did you feel?

GAIL BAPTISTE, ISRAEL AND MAX MAKOKA'S HOST MOTHER: Well, of course they did their usual thing. They went to the bus, the corner to catch the bus. So usually I am still, you know, in the bed because it's like 6:30, 6:40 in the morning. And my granddaughter came in and told me, nana, they have the boys. We need their guardianship papers. So that's when I got up and I brought the papers out to show them our guardianship papers.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And so you two were attending the Piney Wood School, which we featured on this show a while back, and your visa allowed you to be in the country legally as you were attending that school? Gail, is it clear who I guess reported them because they moved to a different school?

BAPTISTE: No, it's not clear. We don't know who actually, you know, reported them.

BLACKWELL: Let me read this statement from the Department of Homeland Security. On April 21, 2026, ICE detained Israel Makoka and adult and Max Makoka, his teenage sibling from the Republic of Congo because they violated their student visas by failing to attend classes at Piney Wood School. They were granted the opportunity to participate in a student exchange program. However, they failed to attend that school because they violated the visas. They are subject to removal. Both have been released and Israel will wear a GPS monitor.

By GPS monitor, are we talking about like the ankle bracelet for people who were sentenced to home confinement? Israel?

I. MAKOKA: Yes, sir.

BLACKWELL: And you have that on now? Have they told you -- one, how does that feel?

I. MAKOKA: I mean, it's really unusual and really uncomfortable. So I don't know, when I go out, like in the street, like, people seeing me with the ankle monitor, they probably wondering, like, what is going on with this kid? But, you know, can't say that much about it.

[08:20:00]

BLACKWELL: Yes, I mean, it's usually for people who have been convicted of crimes and need to be monitored. And you simply switch schools from one school to another. Max, you were held at the ICE Processing center in Gina, Louisiana for several days. What was that like?

M. MAKOKA: I was in Gina.

BLACKWELL: Where were you?

M. MAKOKA: I was in Houston, Texas.

BLACKWELL: Oh, tell me about Houston.

M. MAKOKA: So I was with some Hispanic people that couldn't speak English. So I wasn't really talking to anyone. I was more by myself. Very quiet in my space. Just wondering about my next step.

BLACKWELL: Gail, what's next?

BAPTISTE: What's next is to our attorney is filing for them to be a petition for them to be reinstated their visas.

BLACKWELL: All right. We of course, will follow this case. And again, what's notable here is that in a community that heavily supported President Trump in the last three elections, they all surrounded your family to bring these two young men home. I thank you for sharing your story and we'll follow up. Israel and Max Makoka and Gail Baptiste, thank you.

Right now there are four black Republicans in the House. Come next year, there's a very real risk there will be zero. I'll get reaction to that from someone who tried to recruit more diverse voices when he led his party of Speaker Kevin McCarthy is with me this morning.

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[08:26:05]

BLACKWELL: Representation among Republican representatives in Congress is at risk of taking a pretty big hit in November. Right now there are four black Republicans in the House. All four are leaving. Representative Wesley Hunt of Texas did not run for reelection so he could run for Senate. He lost in the primary. Representative John James of Michigan and Byron Donalds of Florida are running for governor of their states. And Congressman Burgess Owens decided not to run again after redistricting left his seat vulnerable to democratic challenges.

For 2026, The National Republican Congressional Committee has what it calls its MAGA majority list. The NRCC is backing 17 candidates in battleground districts. Just one of those, Kevin Lincoln of California is black. So we're on track to see the few gains in diversity the party had made wiped out. And potentially only one black Republican left in Congress, Senator Tim Scott.

Now, after losing control of the House in 2018, party leadership made efforts to find and support black Republicans to run for Congress. Kevin McCarthy championed that effort as speaker. He spoke about his motivation. This was in 2023.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R) FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: The Democrats have taken the majority. They had a big race. So they stand up and then the Republicans stand up. And when you look at the Democrats, they actually look like America. When I look at my party, we look like the most restrictive country club in America.

And so I say to myself, either I'm going to be the leader of declining and extincting the party, or I have to change the way we look and challenge where we run.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And former Speaker Kevin McCarthy is with us now. Mr. Speaker, good to have you on First of All. Let me start with the obvious question here. You obviously thought it important to recruit black Republicans who could win for your party. Why?

MCCARTHY: Well, I think it's important. I mean, if you look at the Republican Party and the history of it with the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln. But for your viewers, the first black American ever elected to Congress was Joseph Rainey in 1870 and he was a Republican. The Democrats didn't elect a Black American until 60 years later.

The first black American ever elected to Congress and then Senate is a Republican, Tim Scott. And I was proud in 2010 when I was recruitment chairman, Tim Scott was running. I was the only elected official that maxed out to his primary. And I just thought it was very important.

I kept a picture in my office always of Joseph Rainey. We have a long history in the Republican Party about equality. And I don't think you pick people based upon the color of their skin or anything else. It's the opportunity you give somebody.

And I always found, especially in a first time candidate, the difference someone can make in your life, be it any occupation that they believe in you, they get behind you, they help you at the very beginning and they mentor you and that opportunity that it brings.

You just laid out four black Americans that serve in Congress today. But think about that. Wesley Hunt went to West Point, flew in the military and he ran for the Senate. John James went to West Point with him and he served in the military, flew helicopters and he's going to be the governor of Michigan.

So it's only rising up. And then you look at Byron Donalds, his background of word, he scrabbled with a single mother. He's going to be the governor of Florida, one of the biggest states in the union. Burgess Owens, what's an unbelievable career that he had in the NFL, lost his money and came back, but the Democrats redrew the lines to make sure he couldn't win.

[08:30:00]

I just think this party has a great opportunity. And one thing people don't understand, President Trump doubled and tripled the black vote in America for him. So what it's doing is it's explaining to people that this conservative view can make your life better. Why don't we give people an opportunity that believe in that, have never thought about running for office?

And I'm a firm believer in helping those and helping them early because you got to get through the primary.

BLACKWELL: So let me ask you this. The effort to recruit black candidates, and again, I will say, who can win? Because there are certainly black candidates running across the country who are Republicans, it sounds like -- and even as I asked this question, I don't want it to seem like I got you, but it sounds like a diversity --

MCCARTHY: Yes.

BLACKWELL: -- and inclusion initiative for a party that has made diversity and inclusion profanity. I mean, is this an acknowledgment that you have to have concerted efforts to include candidates if you want your party to grow?

MCCARTHY: No, I think what you want to think is, with the Republicans, we want everybody to be a part. Lots of times people don't realize they have conservative views. They've been told something different. Right. About freedom.

If you took that approach that you just said, that would mean we would only draw lines that. That would pick people based upon their race, they can win. Not one black Republican that I talked to you about had a seat drawn. So only a black individual can win that race.

BLACKWELL: Yes, that wasn't the suggestion. That wasn't the suggestion.

MCCARTHY: Yes.

BLACKWELL: But as I heard from your 2023 statement at Oxford, is that you made a concerted effort to find black people who could win.

MCCARTHY: Oh, no. I made a conservative effort to expand the party, be it black, be it woman, be it Korean, be it Asian. And the interesting part was what happened in that election in 2018, Michael Bloomberg bragged about giving $100 million to defeat Republicans, and they targeted women and minority Republicans, and that's who they defeated.

And when I looked around, I thought, this party doesn't have a future unless we reach out to every single American. And that means when you believe. Look, I wasn't born into the Republican Party. I grew up in a family of Democrats. But I rejected what I heard at the kitchen table and didn't believe that could to help me rise up in the nation.

And so I come to this party in the belief of Lincoln, of the liberator, of what we were able to do. And I think about this party that there's people that might be a Democrat today or independent, but don't realize that their life could be better with a conservative view for this nation. And they're not going to help you based upon the color of your skin. They're going to help you because they believe in you.

BLACKWELL: Let me play one of the black Republican congressmen who's leaving this is Congressman Wesley Hunt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. WESTLY HUNT (R-TX): I'm not here because I'm black. I am here because I'm qualified representative for congressional District 38. And the American people choose who they want to choose. And the one thing I don't want to get into is this game of race bait all day, every day. If there's four, if there's 10, if there's none. What we are talking about is who is the best person that is best qualified to fill a seat, regardless of the way that they look.

And I tell people this all the time till I am blue in the face. I represent a white majority district that President Trump would have won by over 20 points, and I won by 25 points the last time I ran. I'm being judged not by the color of my skin, but by the content of my character. I don't care how many black people are here. I want the most qualified people that are here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Mr. Speaker, are you concerned that there might be some conservative black Americans who are maybe just right of center and maybe we'll vote or support your policies? But look up at the Republican conference and say, I must be in the wrong room because there's no one here who looks like me.

MCCARTHY: No. Look, Wesley Hunt, it was six years ago that I met Wesley Hunt. I walked away and said, what an extraordinary individual. Not only did he go to West Point, but two of his family members. He served in the military, and he's willing to serve again. I backed him for four years before he was able to win.

John James --

BLACKWELL: I'm not suggesting --

MCCARTHY: -- talking to him --

BLACKWELL: I'm not suggesting that these men aren't qualified. You've talked about their resumes. I'm saying that, and there's also the issue of not just how the party looks, but what the party supports. And the leader of the conference, the president, who calls politicians who are black low IQ and speaks about Somalia and Haiti and so many other countries with derogatory terms and speaks about DI in certain ways.

I mean, the question is, are you losing the party, losing an opportunity to recruit black conservatives because there is going to be potentially no representation?

[08:35:00]

MCCARTHY: No, it's completely the opposite. I mean, if you simply go to the numbers, John McCain got 4 percent of the black vote in America. Romney got 6 percent. President Trump got the highest percentage of black vote a Republican had in decades. So he's actually bringing more people to the party, more Hispanics to the party.

What we found after that 2018 comment of that election that I found was we elected the most Republican women, the most minority Republicans we've had in decades. So the party is actually expanding more.

BLACKWELL: Right.

MCCARTHY: Our role as individuals is to give them more opportunity. Look, there's only -- there's been less than 13,000 people that have ever had the opportunity to serve in Congress. So what your role is really to find those who thought they never could, those who thought they didn't have the opportunity.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

MCCARTHY: Maybe they didn't even know they were Republican. Give them the chance. And that's all I do. If I find a good leader somewhere, I want to help them. And I'm so proud of, like John James and Byron Adams running for higher office.

BLACKWELL: Gotcha.

MCCARTHY: Think of the opportunity. Tim Scott happened to be one of my best friends. Look at where he came from. If you study the history of the Civil War of America --

BLACKWELL: Former Speaker --

MCCATHY: -- Joseph Rainey was elected to --

BLACKWELL: -- Kevin McCarthy, I appreciate the conversation, but we got to run. Thank you so much for being on this morning.

MCCARTHY: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right, the "Devil Wears Prada 2" is out this weekend, but there is some controversy online around the depiction of one character. That's next.

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[08:41:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Have you heard about this controversy surrounding and for some, the boycott of the "Devil Wears Prada 2"?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a die hard fan of the "Devil Wears Prada." So honestly, I was hyped for the second one until I saw this trailer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, I'm Jin Chao. I'm your new assistant.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cool. I was wondering about that. Nice to meet you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you don't want me, you can interview someone else. That's totally fine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did go to Yale. 3.86 GPA. Elite soprano of the Whiffin poofs. And my ACT score was 36 on the very first.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. But no, you seem great. I'm happy to have you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jin Chao is really just a collection of the laziest East Asian stereotypes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nerdy, overachiever graduate from Yale. Inside her GPA.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She wears glasses and a plaid shirt in sharp contrast to the glamorous fashion world around her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chin Chao. That sounds like a racial slur. Low key, like you not -- when I heard that I like pushed back the YouTube trailer. I was like, let me hear that again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's causing backlash in Japan, Korea and China.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They got the nerve to come over here on an Asia tour to promote it. Like, you can't diss an entire community and then expect us to go buy tickets and make you wealthy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today, Asia drives the global luxury fashion industry. East Asia's buying power passed the West a long time ago. They gladly take Asian money, but they draw a clear line.

BLACKWELL: Some say it's just too soon to judge off just a 30 second clip.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ginger's another version of Andy from "Devil Wears Prada" the first one. And she just happens to be Asian, I think. Because I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of the stereotypical attributes of the model minority stereotype. I want to validate this criticism. I also want to point out that she is not the only Asian character in this movie. Lucy Liu plays another character. She's a very rich, very successful woman, not necessarily fitting into what we typically think of as Asian stereotypes. Simone Ashley's character is Amari.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're the kind of person who thinks on time is on time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's portrayed as very chic, very stylish. She's very good at her job. She's not what people stereotypically think of as Asian. She's Indian, she's dark skinned. And a lot of times when people think of Asian, they think of East Asian.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you think Chinese people overreacted or are overly sensitive about this, ask yourself if there's a black character with a name sounding like the N word or if there's a brown character with a name sounding like P word with a sprinkle of racial stereotype. How would you react?

BLACKWELL: Now, we reached out to representatives for the actress and for the studio, but neither got back to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right, let me know what you think on socials. Coming up, imagine a 10-year-old boy having to represent himself in court so he doesn't get deported. Actually, you don't have to imagine it happened and you'll hear from him, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:48:00]

BLACKWELL: Facing deportation and representing yourself in court, that would be a challenge for anyone. Imagine for a 10-year-old. According to CNN affiliate Enemas Universion that was reality for a boy in Texas named Wilfredo. Listen to him talk about what that was like.

Now, the interview is in Spanish, but the subtitles are in Engish.

Lidia Terrazes with CNN affiliate Enemies. Univision spoke with Wilfredo and she's with us now. Lydia, thanks for coming on. How did this happen to Wilfredo?

LIDIA TERRAZES, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT N PLUS UNIVISION: Victor, thanks for having me. The Department of Homeland Security filed a motion, it's called the motion to pre-term it an asylum application. So they're basically looking to dismiss Wilfredo's case without a hearing.

It's important to note that Wilfredo is originally from Venezuela and he came to the United States with his mother a couple of years ago. They do have an asylum case pending, but his mother was detained and is in ICE custody since the end of December, almost six months at this point.

So he is with the legal guardian now and very recently is that his legal guardian, his mom's former boss, received this letter with this motion from DHS.

[08:50:00]

But what is very interesting about this case, and it's almost unbelievable, is that this motion is citing an agreement between the United States and Ecuador, which means that if this is granted, the boy could be deported to a third country, to Ecuador, even though he's from Venezuela.

BLACKWELL: And so this 10-year-old boy whose mother is held, I just want to make sure I hear this the right way, would be deported to Ecuador. Does he know anyone or have any family in Ecuador?

TERRAZES: Not at all. Not at all. And what the legal guardian tells me is she went to this court hearing with him. He didn't have any legal representation. So he, you know, presented himself in front of a judge without an attorney. The legal guardian was there and she was trying to ask what was going on.

She said he has his mom, you know, they have this asylum application that is together. And they -- the judge said to her, well, what we're doing right now is apparently now his case is independent. But it is important to note that the judge actually denied this motion from DHS for now. They denied this motion to possibly deport him to Ecuador.

But no, they have absolutely no family there. What we know is that the U.S. has this agreement with Ecuador as a third country, as a state country. And when they are, you know, refusing to grant a hearing to someone that is seeking asylum in the United States, they're basically saying, well, we'll send them to this third country where they can seek asylum. And that's the biggest fear for everyone in this situation.

BLACKWELL: Have you heard anything else from DHS or ICE?

TERRAZES: Well, you know, in the first statement that I received from them, they -- the only answer that I received was this individual is not detained. None of my questions were answered. Of course, I think the focus here is that agreement between the U.S. and Ecuador and why it is that, you know, this is happening to a 10 year old. Because legal experts have told me that they have seen these motions from DHS citing this agreement a lot more lately.

But for adults, this is the first time that they see this for a 10- year-old child. Last night I did get a second statement from DHS. They were basically just talking about him and his mother and they called them illegal aliens and said that they enter the country illegally and that she chose, you know, to have her son be with a third party with the legal guardian and that he will receive full due process.

But of course, you know, this case is still something that we're trying to figure out because it might be the first one that we know of that involves a 10 year old that could possibly be deported to a third country.

BLACKWELL: Lidia Terrazes with CNN affiliate N Plus Univision, thank you so much.

From detention to a dance hall in Texas, hear from a trio of mariachi brothers who are getting the chance to perform with a major country music star after nationwide attention to their ordeal in ice custody. That's next.

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[08:57:11]

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KACEY MUSGRAVES, COUNTRY MUSIC STAR: I love Mexico. I love Mexican music. And I was really inspired on this record to like explore where country music meets some of those regional Mexican sounds in my own way, you know, and it's like infusing some of those instruments. And really when you look at like traditional mariachi music and traditional Mexican music, you see such a kinship with traditional country and western music. The subject matter, the instrumentation, it comes from the same heart in a lot of ways.

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BLACKWELL: That's country music star Kacey Musgraves talking about the Mexican influences on her newest album. And starting tomorrow, her opening act at the oldest dance hall in Texas, Green Hall will be teen mariachi brothers Antonio, Caleb and Joshua Gamez-Cuellar. The brothers are celebrated young mariachi musicians. They were recognized on Capitol Hill just last year. They've won many state contests.

But in February, the teens and their parents were detained by ICE. They spent nearly two weeks in detention. Outcry from fellow musicians around the country and state leaders, both Democratic and Republican, helped get the family released.

And soon after that, the brothers got this news that they would be performing with Kasey Musgraves. They're open for her tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday. And we caught up with the brothers, Antonio, 18, Caleb, 15, and Joshua, 12, to get their reaction.

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JOSHUA GAMEZ-CUELLAR, 15-YEAR-OLD MARIACHI MUSICIAN: I'm so happy that an artist how Kacey raised her voice to talk about what's happening, that is a thing that a lot of artists doesn't do, like talking about what is happening right now in this country.

ANTONIO GAMEZ, 18-YEAR-OLD MARIACHI MUSICIAN: We're so thankful that she decides to look at immigrants like us and get a culture and put it, like, in her work. We're so thankful for that because that just proves the kind of person that she is. And we're so prepare for this opportunity. And we think that that's going to be, like, a crazy moment. We're waiting for it so bad. We're going to, like, perform, like, really old Mariachi music, just like, like the songs that everybody knows from a lot of artists.

And we think that that's going to be something super special, super beautiful for all the people that wants to know more about, like, our culture and like, your music and stuff.

GAMEZ-CUELLAR: So I'm so grateful and glad that a person how her is looking like the persons like us.

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BLACKWELL: Now, I'd love to tell you that you should go get your tickets, but all three shows sold out quickly. We wish them luck and hope their run with Kasey Musgraves is a success.

Hey, if you see something of someone I should see, tell me. I'm on Instagram, TikTok, X and Bluesky and you can listen to our show as a podcast and tonight tune in for a new episode --