Farmworker Activists Reflect on Legacy of Civil Rights Icon

Here are the morning’s top stories on Thursday, March 19, 2026

• In the fallout from César Chávez’s sex abuse allegations, California lawmakers on Thursday announced that they would change the holiday in honor of Chávez’s birthday to Farmworkers Day. The move comes more than 25 years after California became the first state to establish March 31 as a day commemorating his legacy. Cities across the state are likewise moving to expunge Chavez’s name from streets and monuments.
• California and 23 other states are suing the Trump administration for repealing a foundational climate law used to set limits on greenhouse gas pollution. The EPA rolled back the conclusion that greenhouse gases are a threat to public welfare last month. A post on the EPA’s website stated the change would dissolve restrictions on vehicle emissions and save Americans $1.3 trillion.

César Chavez Was a Hero to Farmworkers. Now They Confront the Pain of Alleged Abuse

“It landed really heavy,” says Rolando Hernandez, 33,  an outreach educator for a Fresno-based farmworker nonprofit. He began harvesting chile fields as a 14-year-old in Arizona before working with grapes and oranges in California. When he first heard about the allegations from coworkers, he thought the discussion must be about someone else.

“Excuse me, but which César Chavez are you talking about? Because I only know of one César Chavez who fought for farmworkers’ rights so that there’d be better wages and not so much injustice in the fields.”

Maria García Hernández, 52, was a farmworker for more than 30 years. She lives in Tulare County, and her parents benefited from Chavez’s advocacy to include undocumented farmworkers in the last major comprehensive immigration reform in the 1980s.

“I still can’t quite believe it — that such a courageous person who fought for all of us to ensure we had shade, water, clean restrooms, better working conditions, that such a person, so dedicated to the people … could do that,” said García.

García said that if union insiders or others knew of the allegations against Chavez but failed to investigate or willingly ignored the underage victims, there should be consequences.

“If those people are still around — if they are still alive — then they must be held accountable,” she said.

California Sues Trump Over Repeal of EPA’s Authority to Fight Climate Change

California and 23 other states are suing the Trump administration for repealing a foundational climate law used to set limits on greenhouse gas pollution.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, seeks to reinstate a 2009 conclusion known as the endangerment finding — that carbon dioxide and other planet-warming gases threaten public health and welfare. It served as the scientific basis for the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to limit emissions under the Clean Air Act.

California Air Resources Board Chair Lauren Sanchez said. “California will not stand by while this administration continues to dismantle critical public health protections.”

Sanchez said California’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the landmark 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act, AB 32, signed into law by then Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, “remains unchanged.”