Xavier Becerra for Health and Human Services Secretary

Dear Leader Schumer and Leader McConnell,

On behalf of the Latino Community Foundation (LCF), California’s sole philanthropic organization focused on unleashing the civic and economic power of Latinos in the state, I write to support the nomination of Xavier Becerra for Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

If confirmed, Mr. Becerra will become the first Latino to assume this post at critical moment in our nation’s history. Communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by this global pandemic. In California, Latinos comprise 55% of the state’s Covid-19 cases, even though they only make up 39% of the state’s population. Mr. Becerra not only brings the necessary experience, skills, and readiness to deal with this current public health crisis, he also has the wisdom gleaned from the lived experiences as the son of Mexican immigrants. His combined qualifications, wisdom, and experience will inform his management and decision-making in combatting the pandemic.  Mr. Becerra is what our nation needs at the moment.

Mr. Becerra also represents and embodies the values and ideals of our nation. As a member of the United States Congress, he championed the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which cut the number of uninsured Black and Latinos in California by nearly half since 2014. As Attorney General of the State of California, he also led a coalition of twenty states in defending it from being repealed.

Finally, Mr. Becerra will be a critical to the Biden Administration’s efforts to reunite families separated under the previous administration’s “Zero-Tolerance” policies. His storied career defending immigrant rights, including fighting against the citizenship question on the 2020 Census, make him the right person at the right time for this role.

We are confident that he will lead with moral clarity—and leverage the resources of this department to reunite families and restore the soul of our nation.

Respectfully,

Jacqueline Martinez Garcel

Chief Executive Officer, Latino Community Foundation