TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. — A new federal immigration update is creating fresh uncertainty for thousands of Syrians living and working in the United States, including many in the Tampa Bay area.

Temple Terrace is home to one of the largest Syrian-American communities in the region and many immigrant-owned businesses.

After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration can move forward with ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Syrians while legal challenges continue, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued another short-term extension of employment authorization documents for Syrian TPS holders.

The agency extended work authorization through Thursday, describing the date as a temporary placeholder for employers while the litigation continues. It is not a final termination date for employment authorization.

The latest guidance has left Syrian families, employers, and community leaders waiting to learn whether work authorization and deportation protections will ultimately remain in place.

The uncertainty comes as Temple Terrace continues to experience rapid growth. According to Plan Hillsborough 2050, the city’s population is projected to increase by 29%, while employment is expected to grow by 55%.

Community leaders say immigrants, including many from the Middle East, have helped fuel that growth.

“Ten new businesses from Middle Eastern origin opened in this area alone in the past six months,” said Waqar Mhallawi, owner of Prime Insurance Services in Temple Terrace.

Mhallawi said the area has transformed in recent years as immigrant-owned businesses have filled once-vacant shopping centers.

“I think the impact is pretty tremendous. And you can notice it’s in a positive way, in a good way, because Temple is different right now. There is so many plazas that used to be, you know, like business plazas used to be abandoned,” he said.

Mhallawi worries losing work authorization for Syrian TPS holders would affect more than the individuals involved.

“It will have a, you know, powerful impact because we already — and not only Temple Terrace — I think everywhere suffering from the problem of like lack of employment,” he said.

Ahmed Eid, who works with ICNA Relief USA in Tampa, said the Middle Eastern community has become an important part of the region.

“We are part of the American fabric,” Eid said.

Eid said ICNA Relief USA’s Florida food pantry serves about 400 families, while the organization also provides free health services, women’s shelters, counseling and other social services to people in need.

Temple Terrace immigration attorney Mohammad Shair said he has fielded many calls from Syrian clients concerned about whether they will continue working, remain with their families or find another legal pathway to stay in the United States.

Many of those clients, he said, fled Syria during the country’s civil war and have since established careers and families in the United States.

“So let’s take, for example, someone who entered the United States, was a doctor, got their licensing here in the United States, was able to become a doctor, be a physician, or teach at a University,” Shair said. “But they’re only protection is TPS. And so now they are forced to be in a position where they have to either claim that they can’t return to their home country because of asylum, try to seek another pathway. And so it doesn’t only put, like professionals, but also their children. So again these are reverberating effects.”

Shair said that the uncertainty is deeply personal.

Raised in Temple Terrace by Palestinian parents whose own immigration status remained unresolved until he was older, he said he understands the fear many of his clients are experiencing.

“This idea of being in a situation that you feel is out of your control, that you are worried constantly, should I drive? How am I going to get to work? How am I going to take care of my family? This definitely hits close to home,” he said.

Shair recently released a book, The Cost of Belonging: Immigration and the Fight for the American Dream, drawing in part on his family’s experience.

“Now that I’m able to work and have an office across the street from my parents house where I can walk and have lunch with my mom. Yeah, I made it. And it makes me happy. And it makes me proud to be an American and makes me realize that this is but for the United States, right? And I think the values and the hope and the dreams and the ethics of the United States aligns with protecting people,” Shair said.

He said many immigrants with TPS or pending asylum claims remain in legal limbo while waiting for court decisions.

“There’s TPS if you have asylum pending, these are all considered gray areas where you haven’t been given valid legal authorization to stay, but you haven’t been ordered removed. So you’re in this gray zone. You’re in this limbo where you’re, you know, it’s a really tough place to be,” Shair said.

USCIS has also issued placeholder employment authorization dates for TPS holders from Burma (Myanmar), Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen through Thursday, and for Haiti through July 24, while related litigation proceeds through the courts.