Federal Temporary Protected Status for Salvadorans is expected to expire Tuesday, which would place thousands in the Charlotte area under threat of deportation.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says the designation and its related benefits will terminate Tuesday and has given no indication that it will extend them. Salvadorans who do not have another form of legal status could lose authorization to work and protection from deportation, benefits they've had since the early 2000s.
Immigration attorney Jamilah Espinosa said the effects would echo across the Charlotte region.
“North Carolina has a sizable Salvadoran community, and them losing their Temporary Protected Status will see a ripple effect through construction, hospitality, care work,” Espinosa said. “It will be local and it will be visible.”
More than 170,000 Salvadorans nationwide, and about 6,000 in North Carolina, have TPS.
