H-2A Program Sparks Debate in California's Farming Communities

Here are the morning’s top stories on Tuesday, May 5, 2026

• A major change to a federal farmworker visa program known as H-2A is sparking a heated debate across California. The program allows farms to bring in temporary workers from other countries, but a change from the Trump administration has altered how they are paid, sparking a lawsuit from the United Farm Workers union. Supporters say it’s a lifeline for farmers facing rising labor costs. Critics call it a wage cut that could push local workers out of the fields. 
• A man who was shot multiple times by immigration agents last month in the Central California community of Patterson pleaded not guilty Monday to federal charges. 
• San Francisco Assemblymember Matt Haney is trying again to expand drug-free housing for people leaving homelessness, after Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar bill last year. 
• A bill moving through the California legislature would require independent evaluations of new education programs, like transitional kindergarten.

Changes to H-2A visa program roil California farmworkers

A major change to a federal farmworker visa program known as H-2A is sparking a heated debate across California. The program allows farms to bring in temporary workers from other countries, but a change from the Trump administration has altered how they are paid, sparking a lawsuit from the United Farm Workers union. Supporters said it’s a lifeline for farmers facing rising labor costs. Critics call it a wage cut that could push local workers out of the fields.

Cesar, a farmworker in Salinas, shares that fear. He’s tended plants in a greenhouse for nearly a decade. He’s 45, a father of two, and like many in the Salinas Valley, his job is the only thing keeping his family afloat. “My family, making sure they have everything they need,” he said.

But in the last couple years, that’s felt like a losing battle. After the pandemic, Cesar noticed more guest workers arriving under the H-2A program. At first, he hoped the extra hands would help. Instead, his hours were slashed, sometimes to just 16 a week. “It was a hard blow,” he said. “You still have bills, but don’t know where the money will come from.”

The new federal rule reclassifies many agricultural jobs into lower pay categories. Daniel Costa with the Economic Policy Institute said the losses could add up quickly. “Both migrant farm workers on H-2A visas and U.S. farm workers combined are probably going to lose between 4.4 and 5.4 billion,” Costa said.  In recent years, many California farmworkers earned close to $20 an hour. Under the new rule, base wages could fall closer to about $16.90. Advocates said even small cuts will hit workers who are already struggling. That’s why the United Farm Workers is suing the Trump administration over these changes. UFW President Teresa Romero said even a few dollars can make a big difference. “If you cut their salary by $3 an hour, it is impossible for them to have a decent place to live, to support their families,” Romero said.

Farm industry advocates said it’s too early to know the full impact.

A man shot by ICE in California pleads not guilty to federal charges

A man who was shot multiple times during an arrest by immigration officers in the Central California community of Patterson in April pleaded not guilty on Monday to federal charges that he rammed his vehicle into two agents, prosecutors said.

A federal grand jury on Friday indicted Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, who has dual citizenship in El Salvador and Mexico, on two counts of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon and one count of damaging government property.

Patrick Kolasinski, one of his lawyers, has said Mendoza panicked and tried to flee when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents blocked his car and that he did not intend to run over anyone. Kolasinski also disputed claims by officials that his client was a suspected gang member wanted in El Salvador for questioning in relation to a murder. Salvadoran court documents show he was acquitted of murder in El Salvador and Mendoza has denied ever being in a gang, his lawyer has said. He came to the U.S. in 2019 and has no criminal record, Kolasinski has said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Monday that Mendoza has requested a jury trial. A status conference was set for July 27. Mendoza is recovering after several surgeries for multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the jaw, his attorney said.

Following Newsom’s veto, lawmaker returns with drug-free homeless housing bill

San Francisco Assemblymember Matt Haney is reviving a proposal to allow drug-free housing for people transitioning out of homelessness, months after Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar bill.

Haney’s new proposal, AB 1556, would set rules for how “recovery residences” can operate within California’s Housing First framework, the state’s policy of offering permanent housing without first requiring people to meet conditions like sobriety, mental health treatment or employment. “We should give people who are ready to take the steps to get to recovery and stability an opportunity to do so,” Haney said at a press conference in San Francisco on Monday. “People want to live in housing where they receive the support to be off of and away from drugs with people who will support them in that process.”

The legislation comes after Newsom rejected Haney’s AB 255 last year. That bill would have allowed some state homelessness dollars to support sober housing programs. In his veto message, Newsom said recovery-focused housing is already allowed under state law and argued the bill “wrongly suggests incompatibility with Housing First.” He also raised concerns about creating a separate certification and oversight process that could cost taxpayers money.

Housing First has been credited with reducing barriers for people who might otherwise be denied housing because of substance use, mental health challenges or other issues. But some local officials and advocates argue the policy has also made it harder to fund housing where residents can live away from active drug use.

After criticism of how California rolls out education programs, a new bill would trigger evaluations

A bill moving through the state legislature would require independent evaluations of any new education initiative that costs at least $500 million a year or $1 billion in one-time spending.

The proposed requirement is part of a larger bill that would restructure the role of the state superintendent, an elected position that currently oversees the California Department of Education. “That means that as we make massive investments, as have occurred in the last several years, like universal transitional kindergarten, that there is a built-in independent check to tell us what is actually working,” Assemblymember David Alvarez, the bill’s author and chair of the assembly subcommittee on education, said at a hearing a few weeks ago.

While research shows a child’s early years are critical for learning, in February, reporting by LAist found the state had no formal plans to evaluate transitional kindergarten — a new grade for 4-year-olds in the public school system that was fully implemented this year.  ”For TK, as you’ve covered well, you know, it’s nonexistent,” Alvarez told LAist. The state has spent billions on the program, including $3.9 billion to administer it this fiscal year.

The amendments to the bill also follow reports from the research group Policy Analysis for California Education, as well as the Legislative Analyst’s Office, that recommend reshaping the role of an elected state superintendent to include evaluation duties. But Alvarez said he thought it was crucial to take the legislation a step further and include a fiscal trigger to make evaluations mandatory, and envisions the requirement to apply to new state spending.