Just hours after President Trump called the judge who attempted to halt the deportation of more than 200 migrants to El Salvador a «radical left lunatic» and urged for the judge's impeachment, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. issued a rare public statement. «For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an adequate response to disagreements over a judicial decision, — he wrote. — For this purpose, there is the usual process of appellate review».
In 2018, Roberts had already reminded of the independence and integrity of the federal judicial system after Trump called a judge who ruled against his administration's asylum policy an «Obama judge». Roberts responded that this is a profound misunderstanding of the role of a judge.
«We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges» — he said. — We have an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. We should all be thankful for this independent judiciary».