{"id":19014,"date":"2026-07-27T17:18:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T12:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=19014"},"modified":"2026-07-27T17:18:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T12:18:22","slug":"xavier-becerra-campaign-rocked-by-whistleblower-claims-over-missing-migrant-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=19014","title":{"rendered":"Xavier Becerra campaign rocked by whistleblower claims over missing migrant kids"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F07%2F135609958.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/07\/03\/us-news\/xavier-becerra-tied-to-ethics-probe-in-gavin-newsoms-wiretap-investigation\/\">Xavier Becerra faces a renewed scandal<\/a> over his <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/06\/14\/opinion\/joe-biden-and-xavier-becerra-winked-at-massive-child-trafficking\/\">tenure as Joe Biden\u2019s health secretary<\/a> after a whistleblower came forward to expose the horrific levels of abuse and exploitation of hundreds of thousands of migrant children faced while in detention in California.<\/p>\n<p>A caseworker at the Pomona Fairplex alleges children faced abuse and chaotic releases, were separated from\u00a0 young siblings,\u00a0and sent to unverified addresses or secretly moved in the dead of the night \u2014 some never to be seen again \u2014 while the complex also accepted fake\u00a0 documents from sponsors.<\/p>\n<p>During <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/05\/06\/us-news\/ex-biden-aide-rips-into-california-governor-candidate-xavier-becerra\/\">his time as Biden\u2019s health secretary <\/a>from 2021 to 2025, the U.S. faced an overwhelming border crisis, with just under 480,000 unaccompanied minors crossing the border. The HHS was the federal agency <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/05\/15\/biden-lashed-out-at-hhs-chief-over-migrant-children-report\/\">legally mandated to care for and protect unaccompanied migrant children<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple emergency intake sites were set up across the country to process the children, including in Texas, Florida and California, where there were three: San Diego, Long Beach and Pomona.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Xavier Becerra is running for California governor against Republican Steve Hilton. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The whistleblower, who <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/07\/25\/us-news\/steve-hilton-pledges-to-restore-california-dream-for-latino-voters\/\">brought the allegations to rival gubernatorial Republican candidate<\/a> Steve Hilton, is a first-generation American and mother of two who\u2019s family moved from El Salvador and was raised in Southern California.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Her shocking claims come as <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/06\/01\/us-news\/steve-hilton-says-its-now-or-never-for-california-ahead-of-election-for-governor\/\">Hilton zeros in on Becerra\u2019s controversial and much-criticized term<\/a> as health secretary ahead of the general election for governor of California on November 3. The latest poll for the race, by the Public Policy Institute of California, found the Democrat ahead of Hilton 61% to 36%.<\/p>\n<p>Becerra toured the Fairplex complex in July 2021, and called it a \u201ca model\u201d for other sites across America and a place where kids could be \u2018\u2019healthy and safe.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<p>In her six months working at the center in 2021, the whistleblower claims her concerns about what was happening to vulnerable children were routinely ignored because of pressure to reunify minors with sponsors, despite no clear evidence of any connection the adults had to the children or where they were going.<\/p>\n<p>One haunting example from the caseworker involved a 5-year-old girl, \u2018\u2019Grace,\u201d who arrived at the Fairplex with her 7-year-old sister.<\/p>\n<p>Grace was distraught because she couldn\u2019t find her sibling.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>U.S. Border Patrol agents take asylum seekers into custody after they crossed a remote part of the U.S.-Mexico on September 19, 2024 near Jacumba Hot Springs, California. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI miss my sister and I don\u2019t know where she\u2019s at,\u2019\u2019 said Grace, claiming to not have not seen her sister for several days.<\/p>\n<p>The caseworker claimed a 14-year-old girl got pregnant after being raped. She had allegedly been forced into sex work by a woman described as her \u2018\u2019so-called aunt\u2019\u2019 and sponsor.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Steve Hilton is the Republican candidate running for California governor. <span class=\"credit\">Andy Johnstone for CA Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>When the case worker demanded to know where Grace\u2019s sister was, she was allegedly told the girls had been separated because older children were abusing younger children.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018\u2019I felt heartbroken because nobody could tell her where her sister was,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n<p>The 7-year-old apparently left the facility first \u2014 with Grace leaving separately at a later date.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018Despicable\u2019 Becerra<\/h2>\n<p>The caseworker also called the vetting process for sponsors \u201cridiculous.\u2019\u2019 She claimed selfies were accepted as ID, sponsors communicated through WhatsApp and their addresses often could not be verified.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Xavier Becerra faces a renewed scandal over his tenure as Joe Biden\u2019s health secretary after a whistleblower came forward. <span class=\"credit\">David Buchan for Ca Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But because caseworkers were unable to perform welfare checks, she never learned whether the two girls reached their destinations safely.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese children were trafficked as a direct result of Becerra\u2019s personal instructions to eliminate proper vetting of the adults these migrant children were being sent to,\u201d Hilton said.<\/p>\n<p>Hilton also refuted Becerra\u2019s May claims that reports of 85,000 migrant children going missing were \u201cnot accurate\u201d \u2014 claiming 280,000 children went missing under Becerra\u2019s watch.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The shocking claims come as Hilton zeros in on Becerra\u2019s controversial and much-criticized term as health secretary. <span class=\"credit\">Andy Johnstone for CA Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cBecerra\u2019s actions are despicable and disqualifying,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The whistleblower also described horrific allegations of sexual harassment and abuse inside the Fairplex, with 16 and 17-year-old boys sexually harassing young female employees caring for children in the facility\u2019s pods \u2014 and said employees who reported the incidents were fired.<\/p>\n<p>Workers received inadequate training, she alleged, while children slept on cots in makeshift pods of roughly 20 to 35 minors with little privacy for sensitive interviews.<\/p>\n<div class=\"single__inline-module inline-module inline-module--newsletter aligncenter inline-module--nypostbusinessunit aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-newsletter\" data-source-unit=\"Inline Newsletter Module Cali - Morning Report\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__title-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__unsubmitted-title-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the California Morning Report newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCalifornia&#8217;s top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Children were also routinely woken at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m., handed small bags of belongings and taken away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have no idea who was going to be transporting the children,\u201d she said, adding she now suspects the timing was so \u201cnobody would see the children leaving the facility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The whistleblower blamed Becerra\u2019s leadership for failing the children, claiming basic welfare checks could have prevented the harm.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe failed, and I think we should all take responsibility, he should take responsibility,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>The California Post reached out to Xavier Becerra for comment, but did not immediately hear back.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Xavier Becerra faces a renewed scandal over his tenure as Joe Biden\u2019s health secretary after a whistleblower came forward to expose the horrific levels of abuse and exploitation of hundreds of thousands of migrant children faced while in detention in California. A caseworker at the Pomona Fairplex alleges children faced abuse and chaotic releases, were&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/135609958.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}