Ms. Rachel Is Helping Kids Get Out of ICE Detention—One Video at a Time

# SUMMARY Children's educator Rachel Griffin Accurso, known publicly as Ms. Rachel, is leveraging her 5 million Instagram followers to advocate for families detained at Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, where she says brutal conditions persist despite recent population drops. After Accurso posted videos featuring 9-year-old asylum-seeker Deiver Henao Jimenez from Colombia and 5-year-old nonverbal boy Gael, both were released within days, though the Department of Homeland Security did not explain the cause. Accurso told Mother Jones that public outcry is making "a huge difference" and frames her ICE advocacy as consistent with her core educational message that all children deserve to be recognized for their humanity. The focus marks a shift in her activism, which has also addressed the Gaza conflict—drawing criticism from some parents and a 2024 letter from StopAntisemitism demanding investigation into her views.