I don't think this is an Access 2019 change. LIKE hasn't changed.

What's probably happening is that you're comparing text versus actual Date/Time values, and possibly regional formatting.

If the field is a true Date/Time field, then LIKE isn't really the best way to filter it. You should use something like:

Year([YourDateField]) = 2002

or a proper date range:

[YourDateField] Between #1/1/2002# And #12/31/2002#

The reason Like "*2002*" works is because Access is implicitly converting the date to text behind the scenes, and the format of that text depends on regional settings. So on one system you might see mm/dd/yyyy, on another dd/mm/yyyy, etc.

So it's not that Access changed the syntax. It's that using LIKE on dates depends on how Access is formatting the date as text, which can vary.

Bottom line: avoid LIKE for dates whenever possible and use proper date comparisons instead.