MIAMI (AP) - The U.S. government has extended residency and employment benefits for Haitians displaced by a 2010 earthquake in their Caribbean homeland.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials said Monday that temporary protected status for eligible Haitian nationals had been extended through Jan. 22, 2016.
Haitians who had been living in the U.S. before Jan. 12, 2011, and were previously approved to temporarily live and work in the U.S. have until May 2 to register for the 18-month extension. The immigration benefits had been set to expire in July.
Temporary protected status allows immigrants from a handful of countries experiencing armed conflicts or environmental disasters to temporarily live and work legally in the U.S.
Roughly 58,000 Haitians had approval for the benefits at the end of the 2013 fiscal year.
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