Washington, May 16 (EFE).– The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that it is extending for another 18 months the Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Honduras and Nicaragua, a measure that also allows the extension of work permits.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson announced in a statement that the limit on this immigration benefit for Nicaraguans and Hondurans is being moved back from next July 6 to Jan. 5, 2018.

Current TPS beneficiaries who wish to continue making use of this measure will have to re-register within the established 60-day period starting this Monday, the statement said.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services called on Nicaraguans and Hondurans benefiting from this program to re-register and present the necessary documents as soon possible, and warned there will be cases of beneficiaries who will not receive their new document until the previous one expires.

TPS allows beneficiaries to obtain a temporary work permit that is valid while the measure remains in force.

This advantage for immigrants, granted to both countries almost 20 years ago and which has been renewed without interruption, assures protection from deportation for some 57,000 Hondurans and 2,550 Nicaraguans living in the United States.

The U.S. government granted the TPS to Honduras and Nicaragua after Hurricane Mitch left thousands dead, caused enormous devastation and left thousands more homeless in those countries in 1998.

Since then, the United States has renewed that statute 13 different times.

More than 200,000 Salvadorans also enjoy a TPS that the U.S. government granted their country after a devastating earthquake struck in 2001. EFE