Story perspectives

9-Year-Old Asylum Seeker Released for Spelling Bee

3/26/2026

Center

Deiver's Spelling Triumph

Deiver Henao Jimenez, a 9-year-old asylum seeker from Colombia, was released from a Texas immigration detention center on humanitarian parole to attend a state spelling bee.
He finished third in a regional spelling bee.
Deiver and his family had been held since early March after a lawyer filed a request.
Ms. Rachel has called for closing the Dilley facility, citing concerns about conditions for detained children.

Left

Ms. Rachel Advocates

Rachel Anne Accurso, known as Ms. Rachel, intensifies her campaign to close the Dilley Immigration Processing Center.
In an NBC interview, she recounts video calls with detained children, including Deiver Henao, who wants to return to school.
She also notes the deteriorating health of five-year-old Gael, autistic and non-verbal, during detention.
Both children have since been released.
Accurso frames her advocacy as political, arguing that all children deserve care.

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Deiver's Spelling Triumph

Deiver Henao Jimenez, a 9-year-old asylum seeker from Colombia, was released from a Texas immigration detention center on humanitarian parole to attend a state spelling bee.
He finished third in a regional spelling bee.
Deiver and his family had been held since early March after a lawyer filed a request.
Ms. Rachel has called for closing the Dilley facility, citing concerns about conditions for detained children.

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