The creator of children’s YouTube content has a new cause: shutting down an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility that houses families while the parents undergo proceedings.
“I am political,” Rachel Accurso, also known as “Ms. Rachel,” told NBC News. She is on a mission to close the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, which provides food and shelter for the children of illegal immigrant parents during their judicial proceedings.
“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,” she told NBC News in its fawning profile of her.
Accurso amplifies the claims of activists who criticize the Dilley center. Its operators dispute the claims about harsh treatment, including poor food.
“Children have access to outdoor recreation areas, including a soccer field and playground, a library, educational materials, monitored childcare while parents attend legal proceedings, and much more,” CoreCivic told Fox News.
“We provide three nutritious meals a day that are often enjoyed by members of our staff,” a company spokesman said. “DIPC is subject to multiple layers of oversight and is monitored closely by our government partners to ensure compliance with policies, procedures and standards.”
This is not Rachel’s first foray into politics.
As NBC News reported:
Her advocacy for children in Gaza had led to a torrent of criticism from right-wing groups that accused her of antisemitism for centering Palestinian children rather than Israelis. Accurso has pushed back on those claims, noting that she advocates for children suffering on both sides of the conflict. The controversy has led to threats against her family, she said, and she worried that speaking out about ICE detention might inflame the situation.
She told NBC News she is simply advocating for children like Mr. Rogers did.
While her allegations about treatment in the facility are certainly concerning and worth investigating, it’s not clear how exactly shutting down the entire center would fix the problem.
Illegal immigrant parents must still be processed and given their chance to appeal a deportation.
Instead of putting the kids in cages and separating them as President Barack Obama did, the current administration is trying to find a solution to a difficult problem.
In this center, at least the children are fed and sheltered by the taxpayer, along with their families.
Of course, there is a good long-term solution, which is that people start respecting our country’s laws and stop entering and staying in the country illegally, putting their children in difficult situations. That would be an act of “love and care,” as “Ms. Rachel” might say.
[Featured image from Ms. Rachel’s YouTube channel]
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