Supporters of undocumented immigrants in San Francisco and Los Angeles rallied Tuesday on the fifth anniversary of the Obama-era program offering protection from deportation and work permits for some 750,000 people who were brought to the United States as children.

More than 50 people converged on McKesson Plaza in San Francisco's Financial District and dozens joined together at Vista Hermosa Natural Park in downtown Los Angeles to voice their support for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — or DACA — which has allowed more than 200,000 Californians to avoid deportation in the past five years.

But the program has been a consistent target for Republican lawmakers, including — at times — President Trump.

Most recently, the attorneys general of 10 states and the governor of Idaho sent a letter on June 29 to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions urging the Trump administration to phase out DACA by Sept. 5 and threatening to sue the federal government if the program remains in place.

"I think President Obama made a promise on behalf of our government and that we need to respect that promise," said Cherie Newell, a member of Indivisible Berkeley who attended the rally in San Francisco. "I think it's despicable that the young folks who came out and trusted the government now have to live in fear every day."