US offers work permits to half million Venezuelans already in country

The Hernandez family, Venezuelan migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. who were not received for the appointment they got using the U.S.Customs and Border Protection (CBP) CBP One application, walk next to the border wall after crossing the Rio Bravo river to turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico February 9, 2023. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. will grant temporary deportation relief and access to work permits to nearly half a million Venezuelans already in the country, U.S. officials said on Wednesday, a move that follows calls by Democrats to help newly arrived migrants work legally.

About 472,000 Venezuelans in the U.S. on or before July 31 now will be eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for a period of 18 months. Some 243,000 Venezuelans already have the status stemming from a 2021 designation that was renewed last year.