‘Lock him up’ protesters chant outside Trump rally in Wildwood

Some 150 people were gathering in Wildwood on Tuesday hours before Trump was to hold a “Keep America Great” rally at the Wildwoods Convention Center.

Some protesters were chanting “Love, not hate, makes America great,” while others shouted “Lock him up.”

Lock him up chants have now started at the protest #Wildwood pic.twitter.com/YOxeSNBMRl— Chris Franklin (@cfranklinnews) January 28, 2020

Martha Friend, a protester, said Trump’s presidency has been dominated by hate.

“You have to show up and shine the light on the hate that has been dominating this presidency,” Friend told NJ Advance Media.

Jack Gavin, another demonstrator, who traveled from West Caldwell to join the Trump protest, said, “It’s so important to be a voice for the people who have no voice. I would feel terrible if I did nothing and we still had the result.”

Ana Lara of Dennisville, originally from Mexico, said he was taking part in the demonstration to represent the “dreamers” or young immigrants.

“We’re not criminals. We’re equal as everybody here,” said Lara, 23.

“It scares me every minute thinking he’s going to be re-elected. He’s destroying families,” Lara addd.

Trump has made his hard-line stance on immigration an integral part of his presidency and has promised to build a wall along the US-Mexican border to curb the flow of migrants from Mexico and Central America.       

His administration has been able to introduce policies that restrict asylum, tighten requirements for skilled-work visas and slash the number of refugees the country will accept.

He has come under fire from Democratic lawmakers and civil rights activists who had paid visits to some detention centers along the southern border with Mexico, where migrants are locked up in overcrowded buildings and suffer from inadequate access to food, water and other basic commodities.

The anti-Trump protest comes as the president is currently facing an impeachment trial over charges of abusing power and obstruction of Congress.

Trump impeachment trial enters critical week as demands grow for new witnessesUS President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate enters a critical stage this week.

Democrats in the US House of Representatives opened an impeachment inquiry in late September after a whistleblower complaint filed to Congress claimed that Trump had pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a July 25 phone call to investigate Biden, and his son, Hunter, who had business interests in Ukraine.