Donald Trump fires back at Chief Justice John Roberts’ extraordinary rebuke over ‘Obama judge’ remarks

Donald Trump has hit back after the US Supreme Court Justice took the extraordinary step of rebuking the president’s criticism of a federal judge.

John Roberts blasted the US leader for calling a judge who ruled against his new migrant asylum policy an "Obama judge”.

It's the first time that the leader of the federal judiciary has offered even a hint of criticism of Mr Trump, who has a track record of hitting out at judges who have ruled against him.

In a statement released by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Roberts said that the US doesn't have "Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges."

President Donald Trump on Tuesday took aim at District Judge Jon Tigar in San Francisco
Getty Images

The top judge also said that an "independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for".

Mr Trump quickly hit back, saying there are “indeed Obama judges”, in a furious rant on Twitter.

He said: “Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have ‘Obama judges,’ and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country.

“It would be great if the 9th Circuit was indeed an “independent judiciary,” but if it is why are so many opposing view (on Border and Safety) cases filed there, and why are a vast number of those cases overturned. Please study the numbers, they are shocking.

“We need protection and security - these rulings are making our country unsafe! Very dangerous and unwise!”

Last year, Mr Trump used the term a "so-called judge" after the first federal ruling against his travel ban.

On Tuesday, District Judge Jon Tigar in San Francisco passed a temporary restraining order against an order by Mr Trump which denied asylum for immigrants who enter the country illegally from Mexico.

Mr Trump had declared that immigration officers would now only process asylum claims for migrants who present themselves at an official entry point, saying the system was currently overwhelmed.

Chief Justice John Roberts
REUTERS

Judge Tigar called the latest rules an "extreme departure" from practice set by Congress, which allows for immigrants to apply for asylum no matter how they entered the US.

"Whatever the scope of the President's authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden," wrote the judge, who was nominated to the court by President Barack Obama.

Courts have also blocked several of Mr Trump's previous immigration policies, including measures targeting sanctuary cities.

The asylum ruling came as thousands of Central Americans, including a large number of children, are travelling in caravans towards the US border to escape violence and poverty at home.

Some have already arrived at Tijuana, a Mexican city on the border with California.

But rights groups have said immigrants are being forced to wait days or weeks at the border before they can present themselves for asylum, and the administration has been sued for deliberately slowing processing times at official ports.

Mr Trump sent more than 5,000 soldiers to the 2,000-mile frontier with Mexico to harden the border, although critics dismissed the move as a political stunt ahead of congressional elections on November 6.

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