Farmworker Assistance Bill Patterned After Nonprofit's Work

Here are the morning’s top stories on Friday, May 16, 2025…

• As the state legislature works to tackle a $12 billion budget deficit, a bill aimed at delivering vital resources right to farmworkers’ front doors is being put on hold. It’s modeled after an existing program run by Ayudando Latinos a Soñar, a nonprofit based in Half Moon Bay.
• The federal government and the ACLU are facing off in district court Friday over the future of a program offering legal services to undocumented families.

Bill Pushes To Bring Aid Directly To Farmworkers

A bill in Sacramento that would bring vital resources to farmworkers has been put on hold for now.  It would bring critical healthcare services directly to farmworkers in rural communities through a mobile health pilot program.

With California facing another massive budget deficit, the bill’s author State Senator Josh Becker said it’s designed to operate without using state funds. “It actually sets up a fund for charitable donations at the state treasurer’s office. So it really is an accelerant and a pathway for community organizations who want to address health disparities in their communities,” Becker said.

The bill is patterned after an existing program from the nonprofit Ayudando Latinos a Soñar called the Farmworker Equity Express Bus. The mobile resource center brings wifi, telehealth services, tutoring, and mental health services to farmworkers in the Half Moon Bay area.

ACLU Continues Push For Legal Aid For Undocumented Families

On Friday in Southern California, the American Civil Liberties Union will square off with the federal government over a program that offers legal services to undocumented families.

A settlement agreement reached during the Biden Administration requires the government to provide legal services to those families in order to help them navigate the complex U.S. immigration system. According to an ACLU motion filed last month, the US Department of Justice has declined to renew a contract for the services without specifying what will replace it.

Under the “Zero Tolerance” immigration policy of Trump’s first term, federal agencies detained families entering the country illegally, took children away from their parents, sent them to separate facilities and eventually released them to other family members or to foster care. Nearly 5,000 family members were separated. In many cases, the government did not take steps to reunite them and lost track of which children belonged to which parents.