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Trump accuses judiciary of making US 'unsafe'

Thursday November 22 2018
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US President Donald Trump speaks during a post-election press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on November 7, 2018. Trump renewed his attacks on the judiciary on November 21,2018, accusing judges of making the country unsafe. PHOTO | MANDEL NGAN | AFP

By AFP

US President Donald Trump renewed his attacks on the judiciary Thursday, accusing judges of making the country unsafe as he fanned a bitter row over asylum seekers.

Trump launched the latest salvo of tweets on the issue a day after clashing publicly with the chief justice of the Supreme Court over the independence of the courts.

"Judges must not Legislate Security ... and Safety at the Border, or anywhere else," Trump tweeted.

"They know nothing about it and are making our Country unsafe."

"Our great Law Enforcement professionals MUST BE ALLOWED TO DO THEIR JOB! If not there will be only bedlam, chaos, injury and death," he added.

Asylum

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Trump, who has attacked judges before after unfavourable court rulings, gave vent to his anger earlier this week after a federal appeals court temporarily blocked a presidential proclamation on asylum.

The proclamation said only people entering the United States at official checkpoints can apply for asylum, automatically rejecting those caught sneaking across the border.

In an extraordinary step, US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts reacted to Trump's calling the federal judge who issued the ruling an "Obama judge."

"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," Roberts said.

Trump responded on Thursday.

"Justice Roberts can say what he wants, but the 9th Circuit is a complete & total disaster," Trump tweeted Thursday.

"It is out of control, has a horrible reputation, is overturned more than any Circuit in the Country, 79%, & is used to get an almost guaranteed result."

According to US media reports, the Supreme Court did reverse around 79 per cent of 9th Circuit cases reviewed from 2010-2015 — but the 6th Circuit in fact had the highest reversal rate of 87 per cent.

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