Popular, and controversial, children’s educator Ms. Rachel visited a New Jersey immigration detention center this week, where she met families she said had been “terrorized” by enforcement actions. According to the Fox News, Rachel Griffin Accurso, the YouTuber behind the widely followed persona, traveled Monday to Delaney Hall in Newark. She later shared footage of conversations with relatives of detainees, including a young girl describing an emotional visit with her father, who has reportedly lived in the U.S. for 20 years and worked as a truck driver.
Accurso urged her audience to support the family, writing, “Please let their kind, loving father be with his family again.” She questioned the impact of detentions on children, noting that one child had severe special needs and others were too frightened to sleep. “Why are we terrorizing children?” she asked.
In additional posts, Accurso appeared alongside families and activists, singing songs promoting unity and freedom, including one with the lyrics, “Together we’ll sing down the walls everywhere… together we’ll sing until everyone’s free.” She tagged the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice in her updates.
Accurso’s visit came just days after tensions outside the same facility, where authorities accused protesters of assaulting officers and interfering with law enforcement operations.
Federal officials pushed back on her claims. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said critics often overlook the risks faced by children trafficked or exploited at the border. The agency also rejected accusations of forced family separation, stating that Immigration and Customs Enforcement allows parents to remain with their children or designate a guardian.
DHS added that it has focused on locating and safeguarding unaccompanied minors, saying it continues to coordinate with law enforcement to reunite children with family members.
Following her New Jersey visit, Accurso traveled to Washington, D.C., where she said she pressed lawmakers from both parties to end family detention and separation practices. She delivered letters written by children with detained parents, framing the issue as a bipartisan moral test.
Accurso has made similar visits in the past, including to a Texas detention center earlier this year, and has openly described her advocacy as political. She has also faced scrutiny over past commentary, including remarks on the Israel-Hamas war and a previously acknowledged incident in which she briefly liked an antisemitic social media comment, which she said was unintentional.