PROTESTS across the United States are planned today in response to President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration.

The protests are being planned from New York and North Dakota to California and Texas to counter the order Trump signed Friday, which freed up billions to construct a wall along the southern U.S. border with Mexico.

The national emergency and other measures will free up US$8 billion – far more than the US$5.7 billion he initially demanded – to garner funds for 234 miles (375 kilometers) of wall, the White House said. It’s a move that is almost guaranteed to draw the White House into a lengthy legal battle over the president’s ability to use his executive powers for that purpose.

Already, the move has further divided Congress, including some within the Republican Party, several lawsuits have been filed and now dozens of protests are being planned to show dissatisfaction with Trump’s move.

Some of the rallies are being organized by MoveOn.org, a social justice and political action organization. Others are also listed on rallylist.com.

“We are mobilizing nonviolent rapid-response events to stand up against Trump’s #FakeNationalEmergency to defend our democracy and immigrant, Muslim, black, and brown communities from Trump’s dangerous national emergency power grab,” MoveOn.org lists on its website for the nationwide events, many planned around noon local time.

The site allows users to put in their city and state to find the nearest planned protest.

Along with the planned rallies, a series of smaller protests have been planned over the weekend. One took place Friday, just hours after Trump signed the order.

Several people were arrested while protesting against the national emergency declaration outside a New York City hotel that bears Trump’s name.

The New York police were not immediately able to say how many people were taken into custody Friday night outside the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Manhattan.

(SD-Agencies)