AKIPRESS.COM - The Trump administration has announced the end of temporary protections for thousands of Honduran immigrants, BBC reports.

Up to 57,000 people could be forced to leave the US by 5 January 2020, when their temporary protected status (TPS) will be revoked.

Hondurans were granted this status after Hurricane Mitch hit the Central American country in 1998.

The Department of Homeland Security said conditions in the country had "notably improved" since the disaster.

The 2020 deadline gives time for people with TPS "to arrange for their departure or to seek an alternative lawful immigration," the statement reads.

Honduras's government said it "profoundly regrets" the end of the programme.

The country's ambassador to the US, Marlon Tabora, said the country could not handle repatriating tens of thousands of people, Reuters news agency reports.