Following Donald Trump's announcement Wednesday that he will push to deprive sanctuary cities of federal funds, the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), quickly organized rallies across the country to protest.
At the rally in New York City, the founder of the Women's March on Washington, Linda Sarsour, added another racial layer to the pushback against the Trump Administration, telling activists not to follow "movements" led by whites.
"If you are in a movement and you are not following a woman of color, you are in the wrong movement," Sarsour told the crowd at Washington Square Park. "You haven't heard the last of us; women are rising across the country ... And if you want to know what's next, 2018, keep your eyes on the prize because we're going to tea party them like they tea-partied us."
At the Los Angeles #NoBanNoWall demonstration, demonstrators poured fake blood on the sidewalk, symbolizing the "blood" of those who will "die" as a result of Trump's recent executive actions.
"This is the blood of those who are shot down in the street by this white supremacist system ... what Donald Trump calls law and order, which he wants to enforce on every black and brown person," an activist shouted. "This is the blood of people who will die because they don't have access to health care. This is the blood of the Syrian refugees who will not be allowed into this country because of xenophobic hatred!"
Politicians also joined the protests in New York, where activists holding "CAIR for ALL" signs shouted, "No Ban, No Wall, New York is for all!"
The city comptroller, Scott Stringer, told to the assembled crowd, "As a Jewish American, I stand with my Muslim brothers and sisters against Trump."
“Right now, in our City and across the country, there are foreign-born immigrants who are living in deep fear, who are holding their breath hoping and praying that their families will not be targeted just because they have sought a better life," Stringer said in a related statement. “There is critical federal funding at stake for New York City. Either the White House doesn’t understand the significance of its threats to defund Sanctuary Cities, or it does and is willfully turning its back on America’s legacy as the land of freedom and opportunity for all."
Moments before the protest, Mayor Bill De Blasio vowed New York will not cooperate with Trump's crackdown on sanctuary cities, saying the city would pursue legal action against the federal government instead.
The speaker of New York's City Council, Melissa Mark-Viverito, said she was having trouble "containing myself" after learning of Trump's executive action. She said Trump's targeting of sanctuary cities like New York is simply an effort at deflecting from the real cause of crime in America's urban areas -- insufficient gun control.
Mark-Viverito urged all New Yorkers to oppose Trump -- since he "lost the popular vote by more than 10 million votes."
An imam at the Islamic Center of NYU told the crowd, "Now is the time for revolution."
And a member of CAIR's New York office warned that Trump may attempt creating Muslim internment camps:
City Councilman Jumaane Williams (45th district) said that some day historians will look back and say, "Thank God for the people in Washington Square Park."
MORE: This post will continue to be updated as protests continue.