Protesters march across the Brooklyn Bridge over Trump's remarks, policies

BROOKLYN, New York (WABC) -- Immigrant rights activists marched across the Brooklyn Bridge in Lower Manhattan in support of the Haitian community and other immigrants.

Protestors gathered outside the Trump building on Wall Street.

The group "18-04 Movement for All Immigrants" was formed last week in response to President Trump's vulgar remarks about Haitian and African immigrants.

They are calling on President Donald Trump to make a public apology to all Haitians, Africans, and African-Americans.

They also want permanent U.S. residency for all holders of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) currently in the U.S.

Adding fuel to their fire, the Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that people from Haiti, Belize and Samoa are no longer eligible to apply for H-2A and H-2B visas for seasonal and farmworker jobs. The department said the nations had a high rate of fraud, abuse and people overstaying their visa's time limits.

Marleine Bastien is director of the nonprofit advocacy group Haitian Women of Miami. She says work obtained with those visas helped support many families in the U.S. and in Haiti.

Between October 2015 and September 2016, 65 Haitians were allowed into the U.S. with seasonal farmworker visas. The number of Haitians who came into the country with nonagricultural visas was not disclosed by the government.