SAN LOUIS ORBISPO – The controversial deportation of Trump administration Kilmer Abrego Garcia has smashed the United States into a constitutional crisis, Sen. Adam B. Schiff told hundreds of Californians at Senate City Hall Tuesday.
In a brightly lit gymnasium at San Luis Obispo Community College, Schiff said the Trump administration has already ignored US Supreme Court orders and is “promoting” a Maryland man after being accidentally deported after being released from an El Salvador prison.
The looming question is how the country will respond if it rejects another Supreme Court order temporarily banning deportation under the Alien Enemy Act of 1798.
“Why this is a constitutional crisis,” Democrat Schiff said, “There is no clear answer to that question.”
As the audience cried out for approval and stepped into the gymnasium bleachers, Schiff told voters “to keep taking us on the streets to let us know what we are saying, to hear our voices and to let the powerful people know what they are doing.”
Schiff’s Town Hall, co-hosted with Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara), was the first time since he was sworn in by the Senate.
The event attracted nearly 2,000 RSVPs, Schiff’s Office said. Hundreds of mostly white older components spilled from Questa College’s Performing Arts Center into the overflow room of the campus gymnasium.
Usually sleepy issues, Democrat-sponsored City Hall this year has become a divergent session for liberal constituents who are seen as lack of action from President Trump, billionaire Elon Musk, and elected officials.
Democrats still tried to put the anger of their constituents into action, while still managing their expectations.
When one voter asked Sif and Carvajal about the looming threat of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security cuts, Sif walked the crowd through a process known as reconciliation.
Congressional Republicans have directed the committee overseeing Medicaid to cut $880 billion.
Trump says he doesn’t support cutting Medicaid, a program that provides healthcare to the poor, but the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says that cutting in size is only possible through reduced eligibility or compensation.
“There are limits to what we can do,” Schiff said of the Democrat. “We can use all the tools we have to delay calculations, but we can’t postpone it indefinitely.”
The audience was much more subdued than the loudest city hall held in the first weeks of the Trump administration. There, anger was erupted by cries, and Musk’s government efficiency significantly reduced federal agencies and departments.
Schiff staff selected questions submitted by viewers who touched on a wide range of topics, including environmental protection, government corruption and the war in Gaza.
Other California state lawmakers, including Inland Empire Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands), Orange County Councilman Derek Tran (D-Orange), and San Fernando Valley Rep. Luzrivas (D-North Hollywood), had their town hall scheduled again this week during a two-week break on Easter and the traffic field.
Lawmakers tried to use the events to put pressure on Republicans in the Swing District. He tried to block Trump administration agenda items by voting to vote for Democrats. Or, vulnerable lawmakers failed to increase public pressure in the 2026 midterm elections to lose their seats.
“We’re trying to turn three or four vulnerable Republicans over the counties,” said Carvajal, whose legislative districts extend the counties of Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo.
Amy Vernetti, 57, came to City Hall, hoping to hire executives who live in Cayucos for a tech startup and listen to a message of hope and unity that would ease “anger and confusion” that she described as corruption by the Trump administration.
“If this year has shown us anything, it means that this system may not be able to withstand criminals,” Vernetti said.
There was a massive protest after Trump’s first inauguration, but this time, “it’ll take a while to get some momentum,” said Alexandra Kohler of San Luis Obispo.
Kohler, who took her 18-year-old daughter Emily to city hall, said she hopes that politicians like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) have broken records at a 36,000-person rally in Los Angeles this month.
Emily Kohler, a senior high school student and one of the few young people in the audience, said so far she was worried that resistance to the Trump administration was being led primarily by older people.
People of her age said, “Most people feel helpless and more resigned.”
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