Ms. Rachel Campaigns to Close Dilley Detention Center
Rachel Accurso, the popular children's entertainer known as Ms. Rachel, has launched a public campaign to close the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas, a facility operated by CoreCivic under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The effort, announced in recent interviews, focuses on the detention of migrant families and children amid the Trump administration's immigration enforcement actions.
Accurso's involvement began after federal agents detained 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father in Minneapolis in January, transferring them to the Dilley center. The case gained attention through a widely shared photograph of the boy in a blue bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack. Last week, journalist Lidia Terrazas arranged video calls between Accurso and two detained children at the facility, which currently holds about 50 children with their parents, along with other adults. Earlier this year, the center housed around 500 children and 450 parents, according to court-appointed monitors.
During the calls, Accurso spoke with 5-year-old Gael, who is nonverbal and was undergoing an autism assessment when his family was detained during a routine check-in...