Lobo Seeks Meeting With Obama on TPS

Foreign Minister Mario Canahuati announced Friday that he will travel to Washington, DC later this month to request a formal meeting between President Barack Obama and President Porfirio Lobo to strengthen relations between the United States and Honduras and specifically to discuss the issue of Temporary Protection Status (TPS) for approximately 75,000 undocumented Honduran nationals residing in the US. The Honduran government is seeking approval of a new 18-month extension of TPS. Several extensions have been granted during the past decade. The current TPS expires on July 5. TPS does not apply to Honduran nationals who entered the US after December 30, 1998. Section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant TPS to aliens in the US who are nationals of countries that are subject to ongoing armed conflict, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions. The first TPS for Hondurans in the US was granted shortly after Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras in October 1998. (2/12/10) (photo courtesy Internet)