U.S. to offer hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants legal status and work permits following demands from strained cities

Washington — The Biden administration intends to offer hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants in the U.S. the ability to live and work in the country legally, approving a longstanding request from cities struggling to house asylum-seekers, three people familiar with the matter told CBS News Wednesday.

The Department of Homeland Security is expected to expand, or redesignate, the Temporary Protected Status program for Venezuelan migrants, allowing recent arrivals to apply for the deportation protections and work permits offered by the policy, the sources said, requesting anonymity to discuss internal government deliberations before its formal announcement.

Currently, only Venezuelans who arrived in the U.S. before March 2021 qualify for TPS, a program created by Congress in 1990 to offer a temporary safe haven to migrants from countries facing humanitarian crises, such as an armed conflict or a natural disaster.