The United States (US) says it has granted reprieve from deportation to nearly 4,600 young illegal Caribbean immigrants.

According to CANA News, the US Department of Homeland Security said the number of approvals increased significantly since it reported on September 14 that 29 immigrants had been the first to be granted the two-year deportation deferrals from close to 180,000 applications the Government received after it started offered the amnesty two months ago.

A department spokesman has said immigrants should expect the average time to process an application to be four to six months, stating that as many as 1.2 million immigrants could be eligible.