Steve Hilton targets Xavier Becerra over California migrant shelter spending

Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton has leveled accusations against his opponent, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, regarding the management of migrant facilities in California. Hilton alleges that a no-bid contracting scheme involving $4.8 billion in taxpayer funds led to significant vulnerabilities for migrant children.

Specific scrutiny has fallen on the Pomona Fairplex Emergency Intake Site, a 2,500-bed facility operated by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2021. The site, which cost $782 million for a 203-day operation, was managed under a no-bid contract by Cherokee Nation Management & Consulting. Whistleblowers at the site have raised concerns that the management practices may have resulted in children being released to labor and sex traffickers.

As the California gubernatorial race progresses, Hilton is using these issues to critique sixteen years of Democratic governance in the state, citing affordability, homelessness, and legislative bloat as central themes of his campaign.