NEW YORK -- Protesters converged in cities across the country Monday to decry President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency to fund his planned U.S.-Mexico border wall.
Organized by the liberal group MoveOn and others, the demonstrations took the occasion of Washington's Birthday to assail Trump's proclamation as undemocratic and anti-immigrant.
"Trump is the national emergency!" chanted a group of hundreds lined up at the White House fence, where some held up large letters spelling out "stop power grab." In downtown Fort Worth, a small group carried signs with messages including "no wall! #FakeTrumpEmergency."
In Newark, N.J., Kelly Quirk told a gathering of dozens that "democracy demands" saying "no more" to Trump.
"There are plenty of real emergencies to invest our tax dollars in," said Quirk, part of a local liberal group called Soma Action.
There were some counterprotesters, including in Washington, where there was a brief scuffle in the crowd.
Trump's declaration Friday shifts billions of dollars from military construction to the border. The move came after Congress didn't approve as much money as Trump wanted for the wall, which the Republican has called a national security necessity.
His emergency proclamation calls the border "a major entry point for criminals, gang members, and illicit narcotics."
Trump's declaration is facing legal challenges, and critics have argued he undercut his own rationale for the emergency declaration by saying he "didn't need to do this" but wanted to get the wall built faster than he otherwise could.
"President Trump declared a national emergency in order to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on his border wall obsession," Manar Waheed of the American Civil Liberties Union told protesters rallying in a Washington park before heading to the nearby White House fence. The ACLU has announced its intention to sue Trump over the issue.
Ana Maria Archila, co-executive director of the left-leaning Center for Popular Democracy, said the president had undertaken to "steal money that we desperately need to build a country of our dreams so that he can build a monument to racism along the border."
At one point during the rally, a counterprotester walked through the crowd toting a sign that said "finish the wall" on one side and "protect the poor" on the other. Another man snatched the sign from him, sparking a short scuffle.
Trump, meanwhile, was in Florida on Monday.
A Section on 02/19/2019