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.

Venezuelans in the U.S. on or before July 31 will be eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for a period of 18 months. Some 320,000 Venezuelans were already eligible under a 2021 designation that was renewed last year.

President Joe Biden, a Democrat seeking reelection in 2024, has faced record illegal border crossings, fueled by a sharp rise in recent years of migrants fleeing economic and political turmoil in Venezuela.

Fellow Democrats, most prominently New York City Mayor Eric Adams, have called on Biden to expand work access for newly arrived migrants who have strained local and state resources.

(Reporting by Ted Hesson; Editing by Sandra Maler and Christopher Cushing)