The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will terminate deportation protections for thousands of Hondurans and Nicaraguans in the U.S., according to U.S. government notices posted on Monday.

The development is part of a broad effort by President Donald Trump to strip legal status from migrants.

The terminations, effective September 6, would end temporary protected status for an estimated 72,000 Hondurans and 4,000 Nicaraguans who have had access to the legal status since 1999, according to a pair of notices posted online on Monday.

Mr Trump, a Republican, has sought to end temporary legal status for hundreds of thousands of migrants in the U.S., including some who have lived and worked there legally for decades.

The Trump administration argues that deportation protections were overused in the past and that many immigrants no longer merit protections.

Democrats and advocates say that the migrants could be forced to return to dangerous conditions and that U.S. employers depend on their labour.

During his 2017-2021 presidency, Mr Trump sought to end most TPS enrollment, including the designations covering Honduras and Nicaragua, but was blocked by federal courts.

(Reuters/NAN)