Xavier Becerra’s misleading immigrant story sparks fury among California Latinos

Xavier Becerra, the Democratic frontrunner in the California gubernatorial race, is being accused of “immigrant stolen valor” after a viral social media post poked holes in his campaign’s family origin story.

Conservative Latino activists and organizations are blasting Becerra over his repeated description of himself as the son of immigrants who arrived in the US with $12 — despite his father having been born in Sacramento before bouncing back and forth between Mexico and California.

“Latino Free Minds” podcast host Daniel Reyes, who called the Dem’s narrative about his father “stolen valor” in a reference to the term for military frauds, accused Becerra of exploiting immigrant hardships to win votes.

“He’s trying to get a vote, so he took his dad’s hard work and that success story, and just turned it into some pandering statement just for votes,” Reyes told the California Post. “That’s the embarrassing part.”

Becerra’s Republican rival, Steve Hilton, is scheduled to deliver “The Case Against Xavier Becerra” Wednesday, attacking the former President Joe Biden health secretary for “campaigning as if the job is already his,” according to a Hilton press release.

Hilton is expected to hammer Becerra over his limited campaigning, alleged political indifference and his handling of the border crisis, which Hilton claims forced children into overcrowded facilities, The Post learned.

Hilton also took shots online over Becerra’s “immigrant” claims.

Becerra’s campaign has defended itself against accusations of lying to voters. However, in remarks the night of the June primary election, Becerra described his parents’ coming-to-America story as “two immigrants, $12 and a dream.” His campaign website still uses the same description.

Jesse Holguin, a former Los Angeles-area gang leader from La Puente who founded Latinos Exiting the Left, accused Becerra of using his parents’ story to manufacture a connection with Latino voters.

“That’s why he tried to act like his parents were from over there because he’s trying to pander to the Latinos,” Holguin said. “He just thinks that’s gonna make him sound more Latino to them, and they’re gonna be like, ‘Oh yeah, he’s a real Latino, and he’s really for us.’”

Holguin said conservative Latinos are routinely mocked as “whitewashed” for their politics, while Democrats escape similar scrutiny.

“He’s just a liar … That’s what they do. They manipulate minorities for votes,” Holguin said.

Hilton, the Republican gubernatorial candidate in the general election, which is now underway with mail-in voting, said the controversy has exposed a Becerra campaign heavy on rhetoric rather than solutions.

“It’s pure identity politics, and then it turns out that the identity he’s pushing is fabricated — it’s just utterly disgusting,” Hilton said. “The more you see of Becerra, the more you realize what a totally contemptible, cynical career politician he is.”

Becerra’s campaign rejected the criticism Tuesday, accusing Hilton of exploiting hostility toward immigrants to distract from his own campaign troubles.

“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,” campaign spokesman Jonathan Underland told The Post.

“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.”

Conservative commentator Anthony Cabassa, who reignited scrutiny of Becerra’s family story by highlighting his father’s Sacramento birthplace in a social media post, rejected the Becerra campaign’s defense of calling both parents immigrants.

“It’s just insane to me that they’re playing these semantic games,” Cabassa said. “They just want to fool the voters.”

Cabassa said he began examining Becerra’s family origin story after a follower asked whether the candidate’s parents actually arrived to the US with $12. The search led him to the father’s obituary.

“To me, it’s really shameful because … one should really be proud of their parents’ story, regardless of what it looks like,” Cabassa said. “It’s almost like he was ashamed that his dad wasn’t a recent immigrant — that he had to kind of manipulate the words. That’s just very disgraceful and dishonest.”

A historical biography maintained by the US House of Representatives says Becerra’s father, Manuel Becerra, was born in Sacramento and grew up in Tijuana, Mexico. His mother, Maria Teresa, came from Guadalajara, Mexico.

Becerra’s father’s birthplace has appeared in published profiles, but a campaign for California governor seems to have led Becerra to embellish on the family lore.

“He hasn’t been reminding people that his dad was born in Sacramento,” Cabassa said.

The Republican National Hispanic Assembly of California joined in the criticism Monday, accusing Becerra of manipulating voters with his family narrative.

“We are tired of our stories and our culture being used for pandering, then once elected, Democrats do nothing to help struggling families,” officials said in a statement.

“Our community deserves more than symbolic appeals. Latino and Hispanic families need leaders who address the real challenges they face and deliver results.”

The criticism follows The Post’s report in which a former Biden administration official accused Becerra of disparaging migrant children as “little Juanitos and Juanitas” while serving as health and human services secretary. 

His campaign denied that allegation, calling it “an outright fabrication.”

Reyes said Becerra’s father already had a compelling success story without the immigrant label. He argued that his father’s hard work and his son’s rise to Stanford and public office deserved their recognition.

“A real leader doesn’t lie to get that praise,” Reyes said.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters