Ms. Rachel Calls for Ending the Detention of Children at Texas ICE Center: “We Just Want Kids to Enjoy a Spelling Bee”
Children’s Advocate Rachel Accurso Calls for Closure of Dilley Immigration Processing Center
Rachel Accurso, widely recognized as Ms. Rachel on YouTube, is raising her voice in support of shutting down the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, where children and their parents are currently held.
Accurso became aware of the facility after the detention of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father in Minneapolis by ICE agents. Recently, she initiated a video call with another detainee, 9-year-old Deiver Henao Jiménez, who has been held there since early March with his family. During the call, Deiver expressed discomfort with the food and his desire to leave for a spelling bee.
“It was unbelievably surreal to see this sweet little face and feel like I was on a call with somebody who’s in jail,” Ms. Rachel shared with NBC News. “It broke me, and it was something I never thought I’d encounter in life.” She added, “We’re trying to get a child out of a jail to do a spelling bee. I just never thought those words would go together.”
According to NBC News, the Trump administration’s immigration policies have led to the detention of more than 2,300 children alongside their parents, most of whom are held at Dilley. Reports indicate that detainees have complained about inadequate education, incessant lighting, and poor food quality.
Accurso is actively collaborating with lawyers and immigration advocates to push for the closure of Dilley, aiming to reunite children with their families in their respective communities.
She is also in contact with another family at the facility. Five-year-old Gael, who is nonverbal, was detained with his parents in El Paso while undergoing an autism assessment. Since their detention, Gael’s condition has worsened, with reports of increased distress and self-harm—behaviors he did not exhibit before.
“Treating a child this way is a crime,” Accurso stated to NBC News. “It’s neglect and child abuse.”
Ms. Rachel has emerged as a vocal critic of the Trump administration, asserting, “I am political. It’s political to believe that children are worthy of love and care, and that every child is equal, and that our care shouldn’t stop at what we look like, our family, at our religion, at a border.”
