1/30/2017
By Ivan Pereira and Lauren Cook
Demonstrators crowded Tompkins Square Park for the Lower East Side Rally Against Hate on Monday evening.
People held protest signs as they listened to speakers, including Public Advocate Letitia James, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and City Councilwoman Margaret Chin, among others. The protest was organized by Councilwoman Rosie Mendez.
“We need all Democrats to rise up against this president,” James said. “History is on your side. Democracy demands you resist.”
Highlighting the city’s diversity, Brewer said protesters will not give up the fight against Trump’s policies.
“We are going to make sure this city and this country remain a democracy, and in two years we will have a new Congress,” Brewer said to the crowd, which erupted into chants of “Dump Trump.”
Urban Justice Center project director Harvey Epstein said it’s clear that Trump is violating the law with his recent temporary ban on refugees and travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations.
“Judge after judge across the country are telling him you cannot do what you are doing,” he said. “There are doctors who work in New York hospitals who can’t come back.”
Epstein urged protesters to support the American Civil Liberties Union and other nonprofits fighting against Trump’s recent executive actions. The ACLU has seen an uptick in donations since Saturday, a day after Trump signed the temporary immigrant travel ban.
The protest was the latest in a string of demonstrations in New York City over Trump’s policies. On Saturday, about 10,000 people marched from Battery Park to Foley Square. Protesters also gathered outside Kennedy Airport over the weekend, where many people were being detained due to the executive order.
