New York, December 12 (RHC)-- Hundreds of protesters have marched in front of Donald Trump's hotel in New York City to condemn the U.S. Republican presidential hopeful’s call to prohibit Muslims from entering the United States. Activists chanted “Dump Trump” and “refugees welcome.”

“We are not asking for any favors,” Linda Sarsour of the Arab American Association of New York told the crowd. “We are asking for the basic respect and dignity that we all deserve here in the United States of America.”

Some protesters said Trump’s remarks, while more explicit, were not that different from statements made by other politicians calling for restrictions on Syrian refugees who want to settle in the United States. Others warned that Trump's racist and anti-Muslim remarks were only intensifying a wave of Islamophobia.

Trump ignited a political firestorm earlier this week by proposing a “total and complete” ban on all Muslims entering the United States. His statement, which has drawn widespread condemnation both domestically and internationally, came in response to the mass shootings in San Bernardino, California, last week, in which a married couple described as "radicalized" by authorities killed 14 people.

Trump’s outrageous demand has been roundly condemned by nearly all presidential candidates, both Republican and Democrat, as well as the White House and international human rights organizations.