EXCLUSIVE: Abdul El-Sayed received $3,000 from ‘Ms. Rachel,’ anti-Israel activist campaigning to shut down ICE detention centers

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed received $3,000 from children’s entertainer “Ms. Rachel,” a prominent pro-Palestinian activist who has also campaigned to shut down an ICE family detention center which would effectively end immigration enforcement.

Rachel Griffin Accurso, known to millions of parents and children as Ms. Rachel, was listed in a July federal campaign filing as providing $3,000 to El-Sayed’s campaign.

The contribution connects El-Sayed, who has called for defunding ICE and an arms embargo against Israel, with a celebrity activist who has become increasingly involved in two politically contentious issues: Israel and immigration enforcement.

Accurso has been an outspoken advocate for Palestinian children during the war in Gaza. Her advocacy has drawn intense criticism from the pro-Israel group StopAntisemitism, which asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate whether she was being compensated to disseminate what the organization called “Hamas-aligned propaganda.” 

She faced another controversy after her Instagram account liked a comment saying, “Free America from the Jews.” Accurso apologized, said the like was accidental and unequivocally rejected the antisemitic message.

Accurso has also become increasingly involved in the fight over immigration enforcement.

She has worked with lawyers and activists seeking to close the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, accusing the facility of “neglect and child abuse.” CoreCivic, which operates the facility, has disputed her allegations and said it provides families with safe and humane care.

Accurso later traveled to Capitol Hill carrying letters and drawings from children held in ICE custody and urging lawmakers to end family detention. She also visited families outside Delaney Hall, an ICE detention facility in New Jersey, where she accused immigration enforcement of “terrorizing children.”

The detention fight has become a significant political issue as Democrats push to close facilities that Republicans argue are necessary to arrest, detain and deport illegal immigrants.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) accused Democrats this spring of trying to “defund ICE and border patrol,” while Republicans ultimately moved to increase funding for immigration enforcement.

Rep. Andy Barr (R., Ky.) has similarly attacked Democrats over efforts to defund ICE, saying, “First, Socialist Democrats wanted to defund and abolish police. Now, they want to do it to ICE.”

Barr joined Reps. Buddy Carter (R., Ga.) and Wesley Hunt (R., Texas) in introducing a resolution supporting ICE agents. Carter accused Democrats of refusing to fund DHS, while Hunt argued that ICE agents are responsible for “enforcing the law, dismantling criminal networks, and protecting the safety and sovereignty of the United States.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has already seized on Accurso’s contribution to El-Sayed.

“Abdul El-Sayed and Ms. Rachel are one and the same,” NRSC spokeswoman Samantha Cantrell said to Fox News, accusing the pair of pushing a “socialist” and “anti-America agenda.”

Accurso has maintained that her activism is motivated by concern for children rather than partisan politics. She has condemned antisemitism and expressed concern for Israeli children and hostages, while arguing that children in immigration detention deserve greater protection.