Xavier Becerra's record overseeing unaccompanied migrant children as President Joe Biden's Health and Human Services secretary is emerging as a major flashpoint in California's governor's race, with Republican candidate Steve Hilton accusing the Democrat of failing to protect vulnerable children and allowing tens of thousands to disappear from federal oversight.
Hilton on Monday unveiled new whistleblower testimony alleging migrant children were released to inadequately vetted sponsors, separated from siblings and, in some cases, trafficked for sex or forced labor while Becerra led HHS from 2021 to early 2025.
The allegations, first reported by the New York Post, stem from a former caseworker at the Pomona Fairplex emergency intake center in Southern California, who claimed children were routinely moved in the middle of the night and handed over to adults using fraudulent identification.
Former HHS senior adviser Chris Clem, who joined the department in 2025 after retiring as U.S. Border Patrol's Yuma Sector chief, told the Post that Becerra should have been directly engaged in monitoring the crisis.
"The single largest border crisis of our lifetime and the largest amount of kids — this does rise to the secretary's level," Clem said. "He should have had a finger on the pulse daily."
According to the Post, nearly 480,000 unaccompanied migrant children entered HHS custody during Becerra's tenure.
A 2023 New York Times investigation found the agency lost contact with more than 85,000 children after they were released to sponsors.
Hilton argued the problem was even larger, claiming roughly 140,000 children remain unaccounted for after federal custody.
"Every single one of those children were Becerra's responsibility," Hilton said during a press conference, the California Globe reported. "The children are out there and we must find them."
The California Globe reported the whistleblower described children as young as five being separated from siblings, released without proper sponsor verification and subjected to unsafe living conditions, while investigative journalist Anthony Rubin said two siblings were later traced to a labor-trafficking operation in Florida.
A Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General audit released earlier this year concluded that Immigration and Customs Enforcement could not effectively monitor the location or status of all unaccompanied alien children after they left federal custody, citing incomplete records, policy gaps, and limited information sharing between agencies.
The report warned ICE has "no assurance" many children are safe from trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor.
Becerra's campaign strongly disputed the allegations.
Campaign spokesman Jonathan Underland told the Post that Becerra rebuilt child protection systems after President Donald Trump's first term, while former HHS communications chief Jeff Nesbit argued no children were "lost" because HHS' legal responsibility ends once minors are released to vetted sponsors.
Hilton rejected that defense, saying the controversy cuts to the heart of Becerra's qualifications for higher office.
"This is going to be a defining issue for Becerra because it defines him," Hilton told the Post. "He failed the most basic task of humanity and decency, which is protecting the vulnerable children that were in his care."