Sen. Schiff criticizes immigration policy, weighs in on impeaching Trump during one-on-one interview

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- California's first senator to serve on the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry in 30 years, Democrat Adam Schiff, heard directly from Valley farmers during a roundtable this week.

The USDA, water, and tariffs were all topics of discussion, but immigration was the main issue.

"In talking to farmers over the last couple of days, they're deeply concerned about the administration's immigration policy," Schiff said during a one-on-one interview with Action News on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Firebaugh farmer Joe Del Bosque told the senator that 20 of his workers had not shown up from Arizona due to concerns over immigration checkpoints along the route.

"If there aren't going to be people to pick the food, it's going to go rotten in the fields, and that means that the fruit that is and vegetables that are picked, the price is going to go up," Schiff said.

He called President Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" the "Big, Ugly Bill," and he moved to block it from providing any funds for immigration enforcement at farms on Monday. His effort failed.

"There were only a limited number of amendments permitted, so I didn't have a chance to press that," Schiff said. "But frankly, Republicans voted down each and every single amendment, so I'm not sure we would have much success."

Democrats are in the minority in the House and the Senate, where Schiff has flexed his oversight, often confronting officials within the president's circle.

"I'm interested in whether you participated in the willful violations of court orders," he told a Trump nominee during his line of questioning at a recent confirmation hearing.

But Pew Center research from the spring reveals that "most Democrats say their party's elected officials are not pushing hard enough against Trump's policies."

"There are some critics in your own party who say that Democrats should be doing more, that they say it's a lot of talk and little action," we asked.

"There are limited tools that we have, and we're trying to use all of them," Schiff said. "We're using litigation and a lot of the litigation has been very successful. We're using mobilization, and you saw 5 million people take to the streets on No King's Day (to) express their views, many of them on these immigration policies."

Critics of the president argue Trump has gone too far by pushing the envelope on court orders and slashing government programs.

Two Congressmen have introduced articles of impeachment, including one just last week.

Schiff, then a member of the U.S. House, led the first impeachment trial against Trump in 2020...

"Do you think what we have seen in this administration so far rises to that level of impeachment?" Action News asked.

"I'd rather focus our fights on trying to get things done - Build more housing in California, around the country, for example, I want to see a housing boom in this country, stopping bad things from happening wherever we can, doing our oversight - I think that's the most productive use of our time," Schiff said.

Senator Schiff and President Trump have had a long adversarial relationship. The senator investigated the president on the January 6th Committee and later received a pardon from President Biden.

Their feud has played out in public view. Trump has called the senator "Shifty Schiff," and Schiff has equated Trump to a "3rd Grade Class President."

"Is there any relationship there between yourself and the administration, the White House?" Action News asked.

"I've developed a relationship with the Agriculture Secretary, and when they announced they were shutting down all the ag offices of California, I weighed in, (and) we were able to keep, I think, eight out of nine of those offices open," Schiff said. "So, I try to work and get things done, regardless of party and regardless of who the president is."

Schiff also told Action News he has spoken with Valley Republican lawmakers, including Vince Fong and David Valadao, about potentially working together on Central Valley issues.

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