Dennis Coyle, an American researcher from Colorado, arrived in San Antonio, Texas, Wednesday and was reunited with his family after being held by the Taliban for more than a year in Afghanistan.
“Since taking office, President Donald Trump and his administration have secured the release of 105 detained Americans held abroad – delivering on their unwavering commitment to leave no American behind,” the White House said in a statement.
One American the Trump administration hasn’t helped is East Texan Caden Hawkins, who’s been languishing in a Mexican prison for more than one year, his supporters say.
After Coyle’s release, Texans are renewing their call for Hawkins and other Americans to be freed from prison, including “Biden administration political prisoners.”
“After more than one year, Caden Hawkins remains in one of the worst Mexican prisons located in Juarez. The young man made a mistake and has been punished above and beyond for his understandable mistake. Caden suffers from PTSD as a result of a serious oilfield accident and is suffering. It is time to bring this young man home,” State Rep. Jay Dean, R-Longview, told The Center Square. Hawkins is from Dean’s East Texas district.
Last year, Dean and Hawkins’ family called on the president, Gov. Greg Abbott, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn and others to demand that Mexican authorities release Hawkins. So far, no one has helped bring him home.
Hawkins has been imprisoned since March 2, 2025. He was arrested by Mexican authorities after getting lost and crossing into Mexico just south of the New Mexico border.
Hawkins’ has overcome much in his life, including a traumatic brain injury from working in the oil fields, his family says. He chose to reenter the workforce rather than live off of government benefits, Dean said. Extremely confused, disoriented and afraid, he found himself surrounded by seven Mexican Federales. They searched his truck, found 10 .308 cartridges he and his dad use for hog hunting and a loaded pistol, Dean said. He was arrested and remains in a prison in Juarez.
He is currently “being held as a cash asset for a corrupt federal judge in Juarez, Mexico,” Dean told The Center Square in an exclusive interview. Hawkins’ family members are “true salt of the earth conservatives. They thought they could follow a legal process and relied on crooked attorneys they hired in Mexico to help Caden” but didn’t help him, Dean said.
Jaurez is located in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, whose governor, María Eugenia Campos Galván, signed a memorandum of understanding with Abbott during the height of the border crisis in April 2022, The Center Square reported. That relationship hasn’t helped get Hawkins released.
Another prisoner Texans are calling on the president to help is Florida native and Texas-based Republican political consultant Mike Shirley.
Biden DOJ prosecutors initially accused Shirley of bribing former Seminole County, Fla., tax collector Joel Greenberg, but ultimately charged him with conspiracy to commit honest services fraud. His defense pointed to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in which justices warned that prosecutors might abuse the honest services statute, especially through erroneous jury instructions.
This is what happened in Shirley’s case, his attorney argues: jury instructions were changed, and one juror was replaced. The judge refused to declare a mistrial. Shirley was indicted in 2022 and convicted in July 2023. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, The Center Square reported.
Shirley is again calling on Trump for a full pardon.
“I stood my ground against their election interference lies when the Democrats controlled everything. But no one came to save me. Now, even with the Republicans in full power, I sit behind bars as a forgotten political prisoner – as if this were a third-world country. It’s well-past time to take action for all Americans who are falsely accused, no matter where they may be,” Shirley told The Center Square via email.
This weekend, many Republican county and state Senate district conventions are meeting. Several have proposed a resolution to free Shirley and other “Biden political prisoners.” Austin-based Republican political consultant Andy Hogue hopes the resolutions will pass and be included in the 2026 Republican Party of Texas platform. He also hopes Republican leaders in Austin and Washington, D.C. will call on the president to pardon Shirley.
In his first week in office, Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people, including Biden DOJ “weaponization” victims. Shirley wasn’t one of them.