Demonstrations under the Abolish Asylum System slogan were held in major towns and cities around England, including Bristol, Exeter, Tamworth, Cannock, Nuneaton, Liverpool, Wakefield, Newcastle, Horley in Surrey and Canary Wharf in central London.
Aberdeen and Perth in Scotland and Mold in Flintshire, Wales, also held protests.
A separate batch of protests were organised by Stand Up to Racism in Bristol, Cannock, Leicester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Wakefield, Horley and Long Eaton in Derbyshire.
In Bristol, mounted police were brought in to separate rival groups in the Castle Park, with officers scuffling with protesters.
A 37-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker.
Avon and Somerset Police said no officer sustained serious physical injury or required hospital treatment, but enquiries will be carried out after reports of assaults on officers.
"Our priority today has been to enable lawful peaceful protest for both groups," Chief Inspector Keith Smith said.
"While there were moments of disturbance, we're pleased to say the two protests have passed without significant incident."
In Liverpool, there were 11 arrests for offences including being drunk and disorderly, assault and affray, as a UK Independence Party protest was met by a counter-demonstration.
In Horley, around 200 anti-immigration protesters draped in St George and Union flags clashed with roughly 50 Stand Up to Racism protesters in Bonehurst Road.
The anti-racism protesters chanted, "Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here."
They were met with a torrent of abuse from the anti-migration group, one of whom yelled through a megaphone, "You're all scum and you should be ashamed", and "This wasn't about racism".
The two groups almost came together in the early afternoon, with lines of police separating them.
The Stand Up to Racism protesters were shepherded into a smaller area as they continued to chant "No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here", which was met with "No, they're f***** not" from the other side of the street.
Saturday's events come amid continued tension around the use of the hotels for asylum seekers.
On Tuesday, the High Court granted Epping Forest District Council a temporary injunction to remove asylum seekers from the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, from September 12.
Regular protests had been held outside the hotel in recent weeks after an asylum seeker was charged with trying to kiss a 14-year-old girl, which he denies.
The government announced plans on Friday to appeal against the High Court's refusal to allow it to intervene in the case and to further appeal against the temporary injunction.
Other local councils also publicly announced their intention to seek legal advice as to whether they could achieve a similar injunction for hotels in their areas.
Reform UK's Nigel Farage has set out plans for mass deportations if he becomes prime minister.
Meanwhile, a new fast-track asylum appeals process will be introduced to speed up the removal of people with no right to be in the UK, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has promised.
She said "completely unacceptable" delays in the appeals process left failed asylum seekers in the system for years.
There are about 51,000 asylum appeals waiting to be heard, taking on average more than a year to reach a decision.
As measures have been put in place to speed up initial decisions, court delays over appeals are now thought to be the biggest cause of pressure in the asylum accommodation system.
The government plans to set up a new independent panel focused on asylum appeals to help reduce the backlog, as first reported by the Sunday Times.
The new independent body will use professionally-trained adjudicators, rather than relying on judges.
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