Democratic governor Xavier Becerra is clearing the air about claims he’s lied about his immigration story.
Becerra, who often touts his Mexican American family’s immigrant background on the campaign trail, caught heat from conservative critics in recent days for labeling his late father Manuel Guerrero Becerra an “immigrant” — despite the fact he was born in Sacramento.
The apparent inconsistency was boosted by accounts on X and by rival Steve Hilton, who blasted the former Health and Human Services secretary as a “smug, arrogant, machine politician” and suggested he’s fudged his family history.
“Unlike Xavier Becerra, I am an immigrant. Unlike Xavier Becerra, my father was an immigrant. My stepfather too. My whole family,” Hilton wrote.
Hilton was born in London, becoming an American citizen in 2021. His parents were born in Hungary.
Becerra’s campaign dismissed the criticisms and shared details of his father’s life that have been mentioned before on Becerra’s Wikipedia page and in news articles.
The elder Becerra, who died in 2020, was born in Sacramento in 1928 as the eldest of eight children, according to an online obituary.
His family then moved back to Mexico when he was a child, living in Tijuana before he returned to California as a teen.
“When he returned to California as a young teenager, living with relatives, he learned schools made little effort to teach an industrious ‘migrant’, but employers were intent on hiring him,” the obituary states of Becerra’s father, who later worked at a cannery and as a railroad construction worker.
Becerra’s mother Maria Teresa was born in Guadalajara.
Becerra spokesperson Jonathan Underland said it’s not uncommon in immigrant families for individuals to temporarily move back to their parents’ home countries.
“Welcome to California Steve Hilton, when people born here are often raised in other countries and return, sometimes decades later, to build a new life for themselves in the best place on earth,” Underland said.
“To quote the Secretary, Steve Hilton doesn’t seem to have a problem with immigrants who look like him — but openly attacks immigrants who look like Xavier Becerra.”
“Trump ignited a deep anti-immigrant animus among MAGA voters, and Hilton is tapping into that as he scrambles to distract from his bizarre ad campaign that alienated some of his closest allies,” Underland continued, referring to Hilton’s recent lesbian-themed ad that ruffled feathers among some conservatives.
Becerra has maintained a steady lead in the California governor’s race, holding few press events since winning the June primary.
However, a poll commissioned by Hilton’s campaign suggested the race tightened following a Sept. 30 CNN debate in which the rivals sparred over immigration, gas prices, taxes, and Hilton’s endorsement from President Donald Trump, who is very unpopular in California.
The poll, conducted by pollster David Wolfson on Oct. 1-2 and released Sunday, surveyed 1,020 California voters and found Becerra with 45.7% support to Hilton’s 40.1%, while another 14.1% were undecided.
