President Trump on Monday killed special protections for Salvadoran immigrants — a move that could force nearly 200,000 to leave the US by September 2019 or face deportation.

El Salvador is the fourth country whose citizens have lost Temporary Protected Status under Trump, who has taken a hard-line stance on immigration to the US.

Salvadorans have been the largest beneficiaries of the program, which provides humanitarian relief for foreigners whose countries are hit with natural disasters or other strife.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s decision, while not surprising, will send shivers through parts of Washington, Los Angeles, New York, Houston and other metropolitan areas that are home to large numbers of Salvadorans.

They have enjoyed special protection since earthquakes struck the Central American country in 2001, and many have established deep roots in the US, starting families and businesses.

The action also produces a serious challenge for El Salvador, a country of 6.2 million people whose economy banks on money sent by workers in the US.

Over the past decade, growing numbers of Salvadorans — many coming as families or unaccompanied children — have entered the US illegally through Mexico, fleeing violence and poverty.

In September 2016, the Obama administration extended protections for 18 months, saying El Salvador suffered lingering harm from the 2001 earthquakes that killed more than 1,000 people and was temporarily unable to absorb such a large number of returning people.

Nielsen, who faced a Monday deadline for a decision, determined that El Salvador had received significant international aid to recover from the earthquake and that homes, schools and hospitals there have been rebuilt.

Salvadorans will have until Sept. 9, 2019, to leave the country or adjust their legal status.

“The substantial disruption of living conditions caused by the earthquake” no longer exists, the department said in a statement.

Homeland Security also said more than 39,000 Salvadorans have returned home from the US in two years, demonstrating El Salvador’s capacity to absorb people.

It said the 18-month delay would give Congress time to develop a legislative change if it chooses, while also giving Salvadorans and their government time to prepare.

El Salvador President Salvador Sanchez Ceren spoke by phone Friday with Nielsen to renew his plea to extend status for 190,000 Salvadorans and allow more time for Congress to deliver a long-term fix for them to stay in the U.S.

The decision comes amid intensifying talks between the White House and Congress on an immigration package that may include protections for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who came to the country as children and were temporarily shielded from deportation under an Obama-era program.

Trump said in September that he was ending Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, but gave Congress until March to act.

With Post Wires