Steve Hilton, a Republican candidate for California governor, posted a video interview with a former contractor who said that under then-HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, children were released to adults listed as relatives on unverified paperwork. According to the clip, some children cried and refused to enter vehicles bound for those sponsors. The post, which has not been independently confirmed in full, drew sharp online reaction as Becerra seeks the same office.
The video is an on-camera interview with Tarek Kadourah, who says he was an MVM site supervisor in summer 2021, contracted by HHS to house children and “transport [them] to sponsors.”
He says the kids looked “scared and uncomfortable.” Agents told him they “would immediately cry and refuse to get in a van,” and some said, “That’s not my aunt, uncle.” He says the HHS paperwork “was not frickin’ verified” and that staff ran placements “like an assembly line.” Asked if some girls were later trafficked, he says, “Yes… 100%.” The video is just the interview. It doesn’t show those drop-offs, and nobody has independently confirmed what he describes.
Hilton’s post frames Becerra’s HHS tenure as a trafficking scandal. Becerra’s campaign has not directly responded to this video. It has previously said he “rebuilt the child protection systems Trump gutted,” that HHS authority ends after placement with an approved sponsor, and that reports of large numbers of “missing” children were “not accurate.”
A 2023 HHS audit said placement rules were generally followed; a 2024 inspector general review found gaps in documented sponsor checks in a 2021 sample.
Responses to the Hilton Video
Some viewers called for criminal charges. One wrote that Becerra “should be removed from the ballot” and “should be ARRESTED.” Another said he “needs to be arrested and made to answer for this child trafficking.”
Others focused on the governor’s race. “He cannot be the next governor,” one user wrote. Another urged, “Do not vote for this criminal.”
A smaller group questioned the clip. One reply read “Bull *expletive*!” Another asked why the contractor “did not speak out at the time.”
The campaigns split along the same lines. Becerra’s team has called Hilton’s broader claims an attempt to “divert attention” from Trump-era enforcement. Hilton’s campaign said Becerra “can’t hide from his record.”
Whether the testimony changes anything beyond the campaign trail remains unclear. The video is still circulating as California’s gubernatorial race keeps returning to Becerra’s years at HHS.
