In South Florida and across the United States, "No Kings" protests took place on Saturday, aiming to voice their disagreement with President Trump's strong-arm policies.

National leaders from the "No Kings" Coalition called it a peaceful day of action in all 50 states and around the world.

CBS News Miami had crews in both Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, where large crowds began gathering on Saturday morning in opposition to how Mr. Trump has been approaching various issues, such as immigration and the government shutdown.

Saturday's protests happened on Day 19 of the shutdown, as just a few of nearly 2,500 "No Kings" demonstrations happened around the U.S.

Miami-Dade demonstrations

CBS News Miami has found that some of the demonstrators who showed up to the event at the Torch of Friendship in Downtown Miami came to give voice to those who feel the most marginalized in the country.

"I'm most worried about people who aren't doing well in this country, people who are being marginalized," said protester Roxanne Featherly. "The hate [and] I guess you can say the bipolarism that we have."  

Featherly told CBS News Miami she has friends who work for the federal government.

"Now they've been sitting at home without a paycheck. I mean, who can go without a paycheck?" Featherly said.

She told CBS News Miami that she hit the streets about half a dozen times, saying that the Trump administration's new immigration crackdown is inhumane.

"They're horrendous — I don't understand, Featherly said. "I see the video on TV, where ICE is coming into neighborhoods and grabbing people off the street — kids, mothers."

The "No Kings" protest happened amid fears that the president would invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy soldiers if protests became unlawful. There were a few counter-protesters at the Miami demonstration, but there weren't any clashes at the Torch of Friendship.

Maureen Glabman said she would have come out regardless.

"Tie me up, take me away," she told CBS News Miami. "I'll do anything to save America."

There have been protests held in Downtown Miami throughout the year since Mr. Trump started his second term. Issues like civil rights, immigration and federal funding cuts are what brought people out. 

"This protest is necessary to uphold the rule of law and defend our Constitution before we lose it," said organizer Maxine Long.

After rallies at the Torch and when the crowd overfilled the area, the protestors marched to the lot next to the Freedom Tower, which has been tapped as a site for a Trump presidential library. A judge temporarily put that project on hold. 

"This belongs to our county, to our city, to our community," said Sebastian Caicedo of the organization Florida Rising. "That library should be for our people."

Broward demonstrations

The crowd in Hollywood aimed at making the protest fun by wearing costumes like inflatable sharks and unicorns, and as funny as some looked, their message was serious.

Chanting and marching are nothing new for Vikki Gomez.

"When I was thinking about what sign to make, I really didn't know what to put on it because I'm outraged at so many things [that] they wouldn't fit," she told CBS News Miami.

Gomez has been voicing her opinion and participating in protests since the Vietnam War. But on Saturday, she brought her friend Barbara Joliff.

"We're seniors, and usually seniors don't think we can get involved," Joliff said at her first protest ever. "And I would like to say we can get involved."

They joined the Hollywood crowd, which was organized by Miami Indivisible and Hope Action Indivisible.

"A lot of work goes into organizing this, but we mostly care about our country," said Janice Mueller of Miami Indivisible. "Care about the direction we're going, which is the wrong direction."

In the Hollywood crowd, people held signs and wore costumes, such as protester Lauren.

"I want to do it in a silly, fun kind of [way], I mean, who doesn't like rainbow unicorn and all the other blow-up animals?" she told CBS News Miami. "I think it really makes a statement that we're not here to hurt or do any harm — we're here to just use our First Amendment right and freedom of speech."

From local council seats to Washington, D.C., politicians joined in the protest as well.

"We're going to come together, we're going to speak out, and we're going to ride this momentum all the way to election day next year and ensure that we can elect Democratic majorities across this country because that's the only way we're going to be able to take our country back," said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Saturday's demonstrations are the second nationally organized rally after the first events in June, which were designed to push back against a large military parade to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army in Washington, D.C. The parade coincided with Flag Day and Mr. Trump's 79th birthday.

The "No Kings" protests followed a series of nationwide rallies organized in April by Hands Off! and the 50501 movement, where opponents of the president and his allies decried what they saw as threats to the country's democratic ideals.