Rivals Hit Becerra With $6 Million Ad Blitz Over 85,000 Migrant Children in California Race
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 14
Rivals Hit Becerra With $6 Million Ad Blitz Over 85,000 Migrant Children in California Race
8 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 14
$6 million in English- and Spanish-language ads has been spent in two weeks attacking Xavier Becerra over his tenure leading HHS, making the migrant child crisis a central issue in California's governor race.
The ads cite reporting that unaccompanied minors ended up in dangerous jobs and claim more than 85,000 migrant children went missing under his watch, with children suffering forced labor, trafficking and abuse.
Becerra, the Democratic front-runner, has dismissed the attacks as "Trump lies" as the June 2 primary approaches within weeks.
The fight has turned a 2023 investigation into migrant child labor during the early Biden years into a late-stage political liability for a top California Democrat.
How can the U.S. protect migrant children when its own child labor laws are being weakened?
With thousands of migrant children lost to the system, what is driving their exploitation in hazardous American jobs?