Washington (CNN) Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan was prevented from speaking at an event Monday morning in Washington after repeated interruptions by protesters.

McAleenan, standing at the podium, immediately met vocal opposition from at least four protestors in the audience who stood with long black cloths inscribed with white writing that read, "Stand with immigrants," and "Hate is not normal."

The protestors broke into a chant, "Immigrants are under attack. What do we do? Stand up, fight back. What do we do? Stand up, fight back."

Doris Meissner, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, sitting beside McAleenan, pleaded with the protestors to stop. "Please, thank you very much. That's enough now. We respect your right to protest, but in respect to the audience who wants to hear the speaker, please."

But after repeated attempts to speak, McAleenan left the stage.

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