By Prensa Latina,
Tegucigalpa : The Honduran government requested the US Tuesday to allow a new extension of the Temporary Protection Status to guarantee the continuance of more than 76,000 Honduran citizens who are living in the US illegally, said the Honduran Foreign Ministry.
The request of increasing the time limit in favour of Honduran illegal residents in the US in 18 months is the eighth since 1998.
Honduran newspaper Tiempo Digital remembered that TPS expires on January 5, 2009, and if the widening request is not definitely accepted and approved, more than 76,000 Hondurans would be exposed to deportation.
Only in 2007, the government of US President George W. Bush repatriated nearly 68,000 Hondurans. At the beginning of July 2008, the number was reaching 29,000 Hondurans, according to official data.
The TPS extension demand was presented by Honduran Ambassador to Washington Roberto Flores to Daniel Fisk, Director of the Office for the Western Hemisphere Affairs, and other US authorities.