A former Biden administration official who worked with Xavier Becerra claims the former health secretary, now running for governor of California, mocked migrant children in his department’s care as “these little Juanitos and Juanitas.” The claim was published on Tuesday, September 29, and Becerra’s campaign calls it “an outright fabrication.”
Story Highlights
- One unnamed former official says Becerra used the phrase “these little Juanitos and Juanitas” about migrant children.
- Becerra’s campaign calls the claim “an outright fabrication” and blames jealousy.
- The official places the remark during Becerra’s time running the Department of Health and Human Services, which cared for children who crossed the border alone.
- No recording or document of the remark has been released.
The Allegation And Immediate Denial
The former official, who is not named, says Becerra was the only person who talked that way. “He was the only person who brazenly said, ‘these little Juanitos and Juanitas,'” the official said, adding, “I never heard a single person disparage immigrant children.” The official says the remark came while Becerra led the department during the Biden administration’s handling of the migrant child crisis, which began in March 2021.
Becerra’s campaign called the claim “an outright fabrication.” His spokesman, Jonathan Underland, said, “Jealousy breeds contempt, and Becerra accomplished more in Washington than most politicians do in a lifetime.” The campaign blamed the migrant crisis on the previous administration and pointed to Becerra’s work on drug price negotiation and the Affordable Care Act. No recording or document of the remark has been released.
Why This Hits A Nerve: Care For Unaccompanied Children
The Office of Refugee Resettlement, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, houses children who cross the border without a parent. It then releases them to sponsors, usually relatives or family friends in the U.S., while their immigration cases move forward. Under Becerra, the department faced heavy criticism over how well it kept track of those children after release.
In 2023, reporting found Becerra had pressed staff to move children out of shelters faster, using an “assembly line” comparison. According to reports, roughly 330,000 cases involving children released during his tenure remained unresolved. Those children passed through the department during the years the former official describes.
Accountability, Tone, And The Public’s Growing Frustration
Becerra is asking California voters to hand him the state’s top job. A claim from inside his own former department goes to how he viewed the children in his care, not only to his tone. His campaign’s answer is a flat denial and a charge of jealousy.
For voters, the record they can check is the one in public view: what the department did with the children it was responsible for, and what Becerra said about that work on the record. The “little Juanitos” claim comes from one former official, and Becerra’s campaign says it never happened. Americans across parties want leaders who treat children in government care with respect and keep track of every one of them.
