The Brief

California ag giant the Wonderful Company suffered a setback on Tuesday in its bid to overturn a new farmworker unionization law when an appeals court tossed its lawsuit against state labor regulators.

The decision by a three-judge panel of the 5th District Court of Appeal in Fresno leaves in place a controversial new law backed by the United Farm Workers that was meant to boost organizing in a heavily immigrant workforce. The law allows farmworkers to signal their support for union representation using a signed card, bypassing the traditional in-person, secret-ballot election usually held on the employer’s property.

The Wonderful Company — owner of the Wonderful Pistachios brand and Fiji Water, Pom pomegranate juices and Halos oranges —filed suit against the state’s Agricultural Labor Relations Board last year trying to overturn the law, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in 2023.

The suit, alleging the law is unconstitutional, came after the United Farm Workers filed a petition with enough signatures to represent 600-odd workers at the company’s grape nursery in Wasco.

In a contentious public dispute, the company accused union organizers of tricking workers into signing cards supporting unionization and provided over 100 employees’ signatures attesting to being deceived; in turn, the union accused the company of illegally intimidating workers into withdrawing their support. Regulators at the agricultural labor board filed charges against Wonderful after investigating the claims.

All of those allegations were being heard before the labor board last spring when Wonderful took the matter to court, arguing the new law deprived the company of due process. A Kern County judge initially halted the board proceedings, but the appeals court allowed them to continue last fall. After weeks of hearings this year, the labor board has yet to issue a decision on whether UFW can represent Wonderful employees.

In the meantime, the company has shuttered the Wasco nursery and donated it to UC Davis, making the question of an actual union at the worksite moot.

In the new ruling, the appeals court judges issued a sharp rebuke of the company for suing over the unionization instead of waiting for the labor board decision.

“Wonderful filed this petition notwithstanding approximately 50 years of unbroken precedent finding an employer may not directly challenge a union certification decision in court except in extraordinarily and exceedingly rare circumstances, which Wonderful does not meaningfully attempt to show are present here,” wrote Justice Rosendo Peña.

Elizabeth Strater, a United Farm Workers vice president, said the decision affirms that “every farm worker in California has rights under the law, and those rights need to be protected.”

But Wonderful Company General Counsel Craig Cooper dismissed the ruling as only a matter of timing: “the decision explicitly does not address the merits of Wonderful Nurseries’ constitutional challenge.”

After an Afghan national was named as being behind a shooting in Washington, D.C., that left one member of the National Guard dead and another in critical condition, the Trump administration says it is halting all asylum decisions.

Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), said Friday night that the agency is pausing decisions "until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible."

"The safety of the American people always comes first," Edlow wrote on X.

The decision follows President Trump's promise of a sharp crackdown on immigration from countries he described as "third world."

Writing on social media on Thursday night, Trump railed against immigrants from impoverished nations, accusing them of being a burden on the nation's welfare system and "preying" on natural-born citizens.

"I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover," he wrote on Truth Social.

"Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation."

The Trump administration is already deporting some immigrants, either to their countries of origin or to third countries, many of which are paid to receive them. Venezuelans were deported from the U.S. to El Salvador, a number of migrants were sent to Eswatini and South Sudan, and Rwanda has agreed to accept deportees.

Edlow wrote on social media Thursday that he had been directed to conduct "a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern."

He did not say which countries this would entail, and the USCIS did not respond to an NPR request for comment. But a June White House proclamation placed a travel ban on 12 countries of concern.

A makeshift memorial of flowers and American flags stands outside the Farragut West Metro station on Nov. 28, 2025 in Washington, DC.

(

Andrew Leyden

/

Getty Images

)

These included many African nations suffering from conflict and terrorism such as Chad, Sudan and Somalia — as well as other countries, such as Afghanistan. Another 7 countries were slapped with partial restrictions.

In a statement to CNN, the Department of Homeland Security said it had already halted all immigration requests stemming from Afghanistan and was in the process of reviewing "all" asylum cases approved under former President Biden.

The department did not respond to an NPR request for comment.

History of anti-immigrant sentiment

The president's latest comments against immigration was sparked by the revelation that the alleged shooter was identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal — a 29-year-old Afghan national who had worked with the CIA to fight the Taliban in his native country and was admitted into the United States in 2021 as a result of his service. In a Thanksgiving Day call with servicemembers, Trump described the shooting as a terrorist attack and the shooter as a "savage monster."

He blamed the Biden administration for Lakanwal's entry to the United States and for a general failure of the immigration system.

"For the most part, we don't want 'em," he said, referring broadly to immigration seekers as gang members, mentally ill and previously incarcerated.

Trump ran both successful White House campaigns on a pledge to crack down on illegal immigration, targeting at various points migrants from countries including Mexico and Somalia.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday after the Thanksgiving call, Trump widened his attack to focus not just on the alleged shooter but to rail against immigration to the U.S. and immigrants in general.

When asked by a reporter about the fact that as a former CIA asset, Lakanwal had been vetted, Trump repeatedly berated the reporter as "stupid."

People detained earlier in the day are taken to a parking lot on the far north side of the city before being transferred to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Oct. 31, 2025, in Chicago, Ill.

(

Jamie Kelter Davis

/

Getty Images

)

Asked by another reporter whether he blamed all Afghans for the alleged actions of one, Trump said: "No, but there's a lot of problems with Afghans."

Trump then turned his attention to immigrants from Somalia, who he has repeatedly accused of being gang-affiliated and "taking over" Minnesota — home to the nation's largest Somali community.

Questioned about what Somalis had to do with the D.C. shooting, Trump said: "Nothing." But, he added, "Somalians have caused a lot of trouble." .

Later on social media, he described "Somalian gangs" in Minnesota as "roving the streets looking for 'prey' as our wonderful people stay locked in their apartments and houses hoping against hope that they will be left alone."

Officials for the United Nations on Friday criticized Trump's call for sweeping halts to immigration seekers.

"They are entitled to protection under international law, and that should be given due process," U.N. human rights office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence told reporters in Geneva.

Copyright 2025 NPR

Alex and Elvia Huerta of Evil Cooks have released the El Sereno Food Passport, a $10 booklet to promote local restaurants.

The first edition of the booklet features 18 local restaurants, each offering its own little perk when you visit and get your passport stamped. Customers can either get free snacks or drinks or get a discount.

At Tirzah’s Mexi-Terranean, you can either get 15% off your order or a free esquite when you show your passport.

Evil Cooks is so metal, they make black octopus tacos. They have also experimented with gansito tamales. This Halloween, they collaborated with Amiga Amore, a Mexitalian eatery, to create a special “witches menu” that included huitlacoche, aguachile negro and lamb shank in fig mole.

Get the passport

Pick up a passport:

• Evil Cooks, 3333 N. Eastern Ave., Los Angeles
• Lil East Coffee, 2734 N. Eastern Ave., Los Angeles

Social justice activists who’ve wanted to help Filipinos have traditionally gravitated toward well-known communities near downtown L.A., Carson, Cerritos and other cities. But some Gen Z Filipinos are going straight to the San Fernando Valley, a lesser known enclave where people also need help.

I talked to two of them, Rica Roque and Gigi Gonzales-Palmer, at the Panorama Woodman Center, a strip mall where businesses are now mostly owned by Filipinos. Around us, bakeries and markets were selling prepared Filipino dishes and imported products from the Philippines.

Panorama City has many Filipino businesses, from supermarkets to bakeries.

(

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist

)

Roque is the secretary general of Migrante San Fernando Valley, a group that works with migrant workers and their families. The local branch opened in June this year.

“A huge part of the work that we do is getting to know them, getting to know their stories, their struggles, their conditions,” he said.

At 27 years old, Roque is an older Gen Zer who attended De La Salle University in Manila before moving here in 2017. He’s worked doing freelance photo and video for businesses and nonprofits.

The Filipinos he meets in the Valley — both those who have come to the U.S. from the Philippines and those of Filipino descent — work in a range of jobs and professions, from nurses and other professionals in the healthcare industry to civil servants, as well as restaurant and retail workers.

His group focuses on those experiencing hardships, which in many cases are people working in lower wage service sector jobs.

He grew up in the Philippines and uses that background to reach out to workers, while Gonzales-Palmer draws on her roots in the Valley.

“I love the Valley. I've grown up most of my life here,” she said.

Gonzales-Palmer is secretary general of Anakbayan Panorama City, a national U.S. Filipino youth group with its origins in the Philippines. It opened in March.

Gonzales-Palmer is 23 and earned her bachelor’s degree in film and women’s studies in 2021 and a master’s in documentary film in 2022. She now works part time at a Filipino bakery.

Rica Roque (left) and Gigi Gonzales-Palmer work for social justice groups in the San Fernando Valley.

(

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist

)

The Valley loves the Valley

Working in this area brings its own challenges, they said. Older organizations in other parts of Southern California have storefronts or other spaces for meetings and events. But because Roque and Gonzales-Palmer’s groups are so new, it’s hard for them to find appropriate locations for get-togethers.

“We often do boba shops or businesses that are kind of noisy, or parks that get dark at night and aren't, like, the best to be around,” said Gonzales-Palmer.

Once they start talking to people who live in the area, however, they say they hear people express a desire to help each other out.

“The Valley loves the Valley, people really look out for each other there,” Gonzales-Palmer said.

A lot of her outreach happens at Panorama High School, she said, because the school has a large population of students of Filipino descent and some of them belong to the Filipino student club on campus.

“We fight for the issues of Filipino youth and students and give a voice to the youth. Youth have a strong fighting spirit, especially Filipino youth,” she said.

“Some of these youth have experienced family separation. They've been separated or they're currently separated from family members away in the Philippines. They carry the burden of wanting to go to a good college and get a good job so their family doesn't have to continue struggling,” she said.

Now, however, she sees many people finish college with graduate degrees and still find it difficult to get work — including her.

“I'm struggling through a lot of these same issues that a lot of youth are struggling [with]. I have a master's and I am still not employed,” Gonzales-Palmer said. “The future looks bleak for many people.”

Because of this, helping remove roadblocks for Filipinos younger than her is personal. She works to make the high school students see themselves as belonging on a college campus and talks to them about the college admission process. Without parents or siblings who have gone to college, some students struggle to know the basics about how to enter higher education.

To offer support, her group organized a trip to a national Filipino youth conference at UCLA last year to get students familiar with a college campus — and meet young Filipino activists from other parts of the country.

Gonzales-Palmer said they learned “there’s more ways to be a member of the community beyond just going to school and stuff.”

Starting from the ground up

Roque said they’re building communities from the ground up by helping Filipinos with things like food insecurity and basic needs — and negotiating for their rights at work.

“We talk to a lot of the workers in… North Hills… experiencing wage theft,” Roque said.

He gave an example of a man he talked to recently who had been working for the same food preparation company for 20 years.

“He started off with, I think, $16 or $17 an hour. But he's still receiving the same amount of salary or wage [today],” Roque said.

“When you’re experiencing these issues,” Roque added, “it's a struggle to not lose hope and motivation to keep on fighting. I think that's what we also do as organizers. We make people learn and think that, ‘Oh yeah, we can change these things’ not just for you, but also for other people."

Gonzales-Palmer said many students have a lot of fear around ICE and being an immigrant.

"I think that's actually pushed more students to get involved and be more political," she said. "Earlier this year, students across the San Fernando Valley, including from Panorama High, including from the Filipino Club, participated in walkouts to show the Valley that people care about migrants and that students won't stop and stand for the raids and the way people treat migrants."