The newest video and survivor testimony allege that former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra oversaw Office of Refugee Resettlement practices that left unaccompanied minors vulnerable to trafficking, forced labor, and sexual assault, and critics argue this record should disqualify him from higher office.
This release features a firsthand account from Juana Rebecca Pérez Santay, who says she arrived at the border as a minor in May 2021 and was moved through large ORR encampments into the hands of people who abused and exploited her. The account paints a picture of systemic failures in vetting and supervision, not just one-off errors. Republicans are framing the story as evidence of political negligence and a reason to demand accountability before any promotion in public office.
Santay’s testimony describes being processed through a resettlement center and then handed to a sponsor she never met in person. She says a social worker placed her on a flight but then left her stranded at the airport, and she was picked up by men who took her to a house where conditions were harsh and controlling. That sequence raises sharp questions about the checks and balances that were supposed to protect vulnerable children under federal care.
According to the survivor, the sponsor’s household misrepresented the arrangement and forced her into grueling labor instead of letting her attend school or live safely. Santay says she worked nearly nonstop, was denied water, forbidden from touching the food she prepared, and threatened with deportation when she complained. This combination of isolation, coercion, and deprivation is exactly what anti-trafficking advocates warn produces modern-day slavery.
Santay said she was sexually abused in that house and forced to sleep on a ceramic floor in a room shared with men, a detail that underscores the extreme vulnerability of unaccompanied minors placed in inadequately supervised homes. She described a drunken man who attempted to rape her and a sponsor who told her to let it happen because “he’s a drunk and he doesn’t know what he’s doing.” Those words are chilling and point to a breakdown of any protective responsibility once the child left ORR custody.
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She said plainly, “Xavier Becerra failed to protect us. He failed me because he didn’t protect me.” That exact phrasing appears in the video and is being used by critics to argue that administrative decisions at HHS under Becerra prioritized scale and processing over safety and oversight. When officials favor mass intake or large temporary facilities without robust vetting and monitoring, the risk to children grows dramatically.
Santay recounts being told she was there to work 20 hours a week, but instead she describes seven-day weeks that stretched into near-continuous shifts with no pay. She says the household treated her “like a slave” and cut off communication with her family, a tactic traffickers use to isolate victims and control them. Those allegations, if accurate, show the danger of outsourcing responsibility to poorly vetted sponsors and failing to follow up once placements are made.
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NEW TESTIMONY: “I was sexually abused because of Xavier Becerra.”
Migrant girl sent to child traffickers after Becerra dismantled HHS vetting procedures. Forced to work 20 hour days—no pay, no water. Slept on ceramic floor surrounded by men. Sexually assaulted.
“They kept me like a slave. Becerra failed to protect me.”
Republican voices argue this is not only a human tragedy but also a political failure with policy roots: large-scale encampments, rushed placements, and weakened vetting procedures can create the conditions that traffickers exploit. From that perspective, the answer is stricter oversight, accountability for officials who ran the programs, and a commitment to prioritizing children’s safety over processing numbers. Opponents insist those measures should have been in place from day one.
Beyond the visceral horror of the survivor’s account, there is a broader political calculation at stake. Critics point out that Becerra has described the system in ways that suggest he viewed it as an efficient operation, and they argue that efficiency cannot come at the cost of human security. Voters, especially in a large state like California, will weigh whether leadership decisions created avoidable harms to children in government care.
Calls for accountability are growing louder among conservative lawmakers who say someone who oversaw these outcomes should not be entrusted with higher office without clear answers and remedies. The central demand is straightforward: investigate how these placements happened, hold responsible parties to account, and fix the processes that let it happen. Republicans frame this as protecting children and restoring basic trust in government institutions charged with their care.
https://x.com/SteveHiltonx/status/2084377908798452222
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