INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued an extraordinary rebuke of Donald Trump on Wednesday after the president criticized a ruling he said
was handed down by 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."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."That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for," the chief justice added
in the brief statement released on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday.Roberts' remarks were a rare public criticism of a sitting president
by a Supreme Court chief justice.The statement came one day after Trump criticized a federal judge who temporarily blocked the
administration from denying asylum to people who enter the country illegally.Trump issued a proclamation earlier this month saying that only
people who enter the United States at official checkpoints -- as opposed to sneaking across the border -- can apply for asylum.But US
District Judge Jon Tigar in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order against the Trump move, which comes as a caravan of Central
American migrants is heading to the US southern border.Trump lashed out at US District Court Judge Tigar's ruling on Tuesday, calling it a
"disgrace.""This was an Obama judge, and I'll tell you what, this is not going to happen anymore," Trump said
"People should not be allowed to immediately run to this very friendly circuit and file their case.""We will win that case in the Supreme
Court of the United States," Trump said.President 'may not rewrite' immigration lawsTrump has repeatedly attacked the judiciary when cases
have gone against him in the past but this was the first time that Roberts, a conservative jurist who was appointed to the nation's highest
court by president George W
Bush, has responded to his criticisms.During the 2016 presidential election campaign, Trump attacked the Mexican-American heritage of a
headed by the president, the legislative comprising the House of Representatives and Senate and the judicial made up of the courts.Tigar
wrote that the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 states that any foreigner who arrives in the United States, "whether or not at a
designated port of arrival," may apply for asylum."The rule barring asylum for immigrants who enter the country outside a port of entry
irreconcilably conflicts with the INA and the expressed intent of Congress," Tigar wrote."Whatever the scope of the president's authority,
he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden."Critics of the Trump crackdown say that
by restricting asylum seekers to border crossing points the government is effectively shutting the door on people who may truly be fleeing
for their lives.Trump's administration has argued that he has the executive power to curb immigration in the name of national security -- a
power he invoked after taking office last year with a controversial ban on travelers from several mostly Muslim countries.The final version
of the order was upheld by the Supreme Court on June 26 after a protracted legal battle.(Except for the headline, this story has not been
edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
