US President Donald Trump intensified his criticism of the courts after a federal appeals court temporarily blocked his asylum proclamation, accusing judges of undermining border security and public safety.
In a series of tweets, Trump argued that judges should not “Legislate Security... and Safety at the Border, or anywhere else,” and warned that law enforcement officers must be allowed to do their jobs. He said failure to do so would lead to “bedlam, chaos, injury and death.”
The dispute followed a ruling that halted a presidential proclamation limiting asylum claims to people entering the United States at official checkpoints. Under that policy, people caught crossing the border illegally would be automatically rejected.
Trump also renewed his criticism of the federal judge who issued the ruling, calling him an “Obama judge.” That prompted an unusual public response from US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
“We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges,” Roberts said in a statement to the Associated Press on Wednesday. “What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them,” he added.
Trump answered on Thursday by attacking the 9th Circuit, describing it as “a complete & total disaster” and claiming it was “overturned more than any Circuit in the Country, 79%, & is used to get an almost guaranteed result.”
US media reports said the Supreme Court reversed about 79 per cent of 9th Circuit cases reviewed from 2010-2015, although the 6th Circuit had the highest reversal rate at 87 per cent.
