What You Need to Know About North Carolina’s 2026 Constitutional Amendments

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Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Salvadorans with work visas in the U.S. expired on Wednesday, Sept. 9. That change triggered concern for the more than 43 thousand community members who live in the county. At Montgomery County Public Schools, the notice from the federal government arrived a month ago. It stated that any employees from El Salvador would soon lose their immigration status. At that point, the schools provided their 54 employees with 30 days’ notice of termination. According to MCPS Communications Deputy Chief Christopher Cram, late last Wednesday, the government issued a statement that employees with work status could continue to do so legally pending further notification. MCPS sent those affected the following message: _**Update Regarding Your Employment with MCPS**_ _Dear MCPS Team Member,_ _We are pleased to let you know that Montgomery County Public Schools is reinstating you to your position effective today (Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026) following information received late last evening regarding employees with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador._ _Late Wednesday, the federal government posted an online update indicating that employees with this work status may continue working while further federal guidance is pending.**As a result, we are pleased to confirm that you are being reinstated to your MCPS position effective immediately.**_ _**We are very happy to welcome you back.** We know this action and last-minute change has and continues to be difficult for you and your family. We are sorry for that, and we appreciate your understanding during what is a very frustrating process affecting something as important as your work status and income, all as a result of fast-changing federal guidance._ _**Here is the timeline of what has occurred:** 30 days ago, MCPS received information from the federal government indicating that your work authorization was scheduled to expire. Because MCPS must comply with federal employment legal requirements, we provided you with 30 days’ notice of separation. On Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, we sent a reminder notice that your work authorization was still scheduled to expire and that, as a result, September 9 would be your last day of employment with MCPS._ _**It is important to understand that** this reinstatement is based on the federal guidance currently available to MCPS and may be temporary. Should the federal government take additional action or provide new guidance affecting your work authorization, MCPS will be required to respond accordingly. We will communicate with you as quickly as possible if anything changes._ _Thank you for all you do to support our students and the MCPS community. Please know that your work matters, and you are deeply appreciated._ _Sincerely,_ _Dr. Renee McCall_ _Chief, MCPS Division of Human Resources & Talent Management_ Deputy Chief Cram pointed out that none of the Salvadoran employees lost any compensation during this period. The state of Maryland has one of the largest Salvadoran populations in the United States, with 23 thousand holding work visas. More than 210 thousand Salvadorans live here. Salvadorans have had Temporary Protected Status since March of 2001 when two major earthquakes rocked their native country. The Trump administration first sought to end their TPS in 2018 but was delayed by court cases and administrative actions. The Salvadoran TPS is one of the longest in U.S. history. The status will remain in effect until the Department of Homeland Security makes a final decision about its future.

Residents of the enclaves of District 6 carry a shared inheritance: cancer, pennies-an-hour wages, broken sewer lines, and highways aimed at their front doors. When divided into separate voting districts, those griefs were left unheard and isolated.

Earlier this year, residents of Baity Hill, the only on-campus living facility available to graduate students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, were told by administrators at the University that the facility would be closed to graduate students beginning in the Fall of 2028. Residents of Baity Hill, many of whom chose to attend UNC over other alternatives because of the availability of on-campus living facilities, will be forced to search for new homes in an increasingly unaffordable rental market. This disruption, which amounts to a bait-and-switch from the University, will destroy this neighborly community, negatively impact the quality of life of current residents, and further strain an already economically precarious population.Wife, mother and long time resident of Baity Hill Julia Edwards weighs in on the University’s decision: > _**“There are many graduate student and married students who attend this university. We are a demographic that should not be ignored or ‘put away’. Living on campus, close to the graduate schools, has given my children more time with their father”**_ Julia makes it clear that she and her family want to stay at Baity Hill and asks the University: “Don’t kick us out till new housing is provided”. The location, affordability and amenities provided by Baity Hill has enabled a strong community of graduate students and parents to blossom. Friend of Julia and fellow parent Clayton Ulm agrees:“ We have a community there of parents where we are able to baby sit and provide support to other parents that is unique to Baity Hill. We won’t have access to that network anymore”. Clayton, Julia and the many current residents share a deep frustration following the University’s choice to remove all graduate students in Fall 2028 and make Baity Hill exclusive to undergraduate students. The reasoning behind the change is attributed to the increase in undergraduate admissions in the coming academic year, as well as the unsafe living conditions of current undergraduate housing options. During the June 15th Housing Summit, Allan Blattner, Executive Director of Housing at UNC, offered graduate students two solutions to the two-year gap in graduate housing: * Wait the projected four to five years (2030 or 2031) until new, but outside-developer-built-off-campus, housing is complete in the Carolina North development. Or, * Go to the Off-Campus Housing office for support. Children play on the playground outside Baity Baity Hill – Photo by Julia Edwards Patrick and Devin of the Off-Campus Housing Office are the only two staff members responsible for supporting all of UNC’s undergraduate and graduate students in search of off-campus housing options. Unfortunately for the high (and increasing) student need for off-campus housing the “resources” on offer primarily consist of apartment.com referrals. 1 The availability of affordable housing especially is not an infinite resource in the Chapel Hill/ Carrboro area. As it currently stands, even Baity Hill– which is widely considered the “affordable” option– eats up 85% (18k) of an average graduate student’s embarrassingly low 21.6k/year stipend. A graduate student, who prefers to remain anonymous, visited the UNC financial office for advice. Upon consultation, they were recommended to apply for FASFA or a high-interest loan (GRAD Plus). Reflecting on this disheartening experience, they said: > _**“Each office at UNC, seemingly devoted to supporting students, shuttles us from office to office, providing no clear answers, because everything is always out of their hands. This endless chain of bureaucratic passivity stems from the university’s increasingly parasitic financial model […] UNC’s model drives down the quality of the education making us question whether any of this is worth it”**_ The University knows the graduate minimum stipend is not adjusted to the current cost of living and yet, instead of raising pay, they choose to refer students in financial need towards high-interest loans. Despite UNC’s stated mission to serve the growing needs of North Carolina by providing “access to learning” and an “unwavering commitment to excellence”, UNC’s decision-making actively works against the needs of current undergraduate or graduate students.2 The Baity Hill closure is a clear example of this disregard, especially for graduate and professional students. By cutting off Baity Hill from graduate students, and providing no on-campus alternative, UNC is offloading the need for housing on the town of Chapel Hill and Carrboro. This pressure further intensifies an already precarious housing market for students, and the wider local population. In the face of stacked odds however, the residents and tenant organizers of Baity Hill have not lost hope. There is a petition in support of reversing the decision, and pushing the University to consider alternative options. Rather than forcing graduate students out of the only on-campus housing available, perhaps the University should consider what these students are able to provide for the Carolina community. Many graduate students are not only students, but researchers and instructors who actively contribute to UNC’s success and national acclaim. It would behoove decision-makers at UNC to remember that the graduate students they “serve” deserve better. Looking to help in the effort to reverse the Baity Hill decision? Sign our petition and email your thoughts to the Executive Director for Carolina Housing Allan Blattner:

Even as job seekers fret about artificial intelligence and tech behemoths announce massive layoffs, Matt Walsh is finding it surprisingly hard to help technology companies hire certain kinds of workers. That’s what Walsh’s recruiting firm, Blue Signal, does. And in specialties including semiconductor production, “the unemployment rate is probably negative 20 percent,” the CEO of […] The post As college graduates fret over finding jobs, a record shortage of workers is projected appeared first on The Hechinger Report.

In October, the South Carolina Department of Corrections began restricting the number of places from which prisoners can receive books, which has caused major disruptions for people in my facility. The approved vendors include Hamilton Book, Books N Things Warehouse, Books to Inmates, SureShot Books Publishing and the online stores of Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million. Noticeably absent from the list was Amazon and any of the nationwide free books-to-prisoners organizations. The list also did not include a single university or college. Before October, there had only been restrictions on the subject matter of books, which still continue. Incarcerated people at MacDougall Correctional Institution, where I’m detained, say the book policy has impacted their studies. “The biggest obstacle we’re facing with correspondence college programs is that this new policy is being interpreted in its strictest sense,” said one person working on his master’s in substance abuse counseling from an accredited university. He added that he believed “even class assignments are being rejected as coming from unapproved vendors.” Another man said that books he ordered and paid for before the policy change had also been rejected. “My entire next semester’s texts were sent, but I received a notice telling me I couldn’t have them since it was not from an approved vendor,” said the man, in his second year of a bachelor’s program. “When I tried to explain that it was from a university and not a bookseller, it was like I was speaking Klingon or something.” In such cases, prison staff have given people the choice of paying for return postage or simply having the “contraband books” destroyed. Everyone I spoke to for this story requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation. In an email to a Prison Journalism Project editor, Chrysti Shain, a spokeswoman for the South Carolina Department of Corrections said that the policy was created to help stop the flow of drugs into state prisons. Shain said SCDC had concerns about books being handled by people working at “unverified brick and mortar stores prior to shipment.” “By requiring that all book orders come directly from established, nationally recognized online retailers, SCDC can ensure that materials are shipped securely from controlled commercial distribution centers — minimizing risks while still allowing for extensive access to reading material,” Shain said. Shain denied that academic materials were being rejected on a widespread or regular basis, adding that the institution’s leadership was working with those who were taking correspondence courses to ensure they received their materials. “If an inmate has had coursework denied, they have not communicated with staff about it. We know of no instance in which this is true,” Shain said. Unlocking lived-experience journalism. Support the work of incarcerated writers. Donate Today Writers, poets and artists also say the policy has prevented them from receiving books and publications they were published in. “My art was just released as part of an inmate collection by a publisher out in California,” one artist told me. “I was so excited when I got the letter telling me that my art was going to be published only to have the mailroom reject the anthology. I didn’t have the funds to mail it home, so I guess they just put it in the trash.” According to Shain, the policy change coincided with a six-month investigation into a scheme in which a former employee and an incarcerated person mailed books with drug-laced pages to at least 20 incarcerated people across 14 prisons. Through the investigation, SCDC agents discovered 666 pages soaked in synthetic marijuana and 241 Suboxone strips in the packages. All of the shipments were disguised as being shipped from a bookstore. Last fall, Shain said, 15 incarcerated people at McCormick Correctional Institution overdosed and two of them died from drugs that SCDC believes were paper soaked in fentanyl-tainted K2. “The new policy allows inmates to receive books from reputable booksellers, and no one to be injured or killed by the contents,” Shain said. “It provides a level of safety that was not there before.” One staffer I spoke to at my facility said the prison had previously intercepted books with illegal substances sprayed on paper and even books being mailed in from fabricated book vendors. “Books have been received in revised Amazon boxes — that were not from Amazon — that contained controlled substances,” he said. “It’s often a real challenge to determine what’s authentic and what’s bogus.” “We’re just following directives,” said another staff member. “We didn’t make this new policy, but we have no choice but to follow it.” Both requested anonymity because they were not permitted to speak to the media. Prior to the new policy, there was a daily list of prisoners called to the mailroom to sign for and receive books. Now, days go by when no one is called. “It’s like it always is in prison — if one person messes up, everybody pays for it,” one old-timer told me. “I have been down near ’bout 30 years and I ain’t never seen it no different.” “Typical knee-jerk response,” said another person. “Instead of punishing the ones responsible, they punish everyone.” Stories like these are made possible by people like you who help PJP to train incarcerated writers and unlock their stories. **During our “Unlocking Lived Experience” summer campaign, we aim to raise $15,000.** Your gift today, of any amount, will help bring transparency to the world of mass incarceration. Give today and your donation will be matched. Support stories by incarcerated writers ### _Related_ _**Disclaimer** : The views in this article are those of the author. Prison Journalism Project has verified the writer’s identity and basic facts such as the names of institutions mentioned._

On a recent Tuesday, customers walked through the doors of the Mission District’s Grocery Outlet, barely glancing at the generic-looking security camera sitting on the wall to the right of the store’s entrance. Whether or not they noticed the camera, it was the camera’s job to notice them. By the glass sliding doors was a sign, no larger than the size of a hand, that read “Face Matching software being used for security and safety.” The system takes images of customers and runs them against a “watchlist,” a database of people who have previously been identified after “causing harm in some way,” said Chris Ochs, who works at SAFR at RealNetworks, the AI company that created SAFR Guard, the security system being used at Grocery Outlet. Want the latest on the Mission and San Francisco? Sign up for our **free daily newsletter** below. Sign up If there is a match, a phone notification is sent to the retailer using the system. A sign at the Mission District Grocery Outlet indicating that the store is using facial recognition technology on July 13, 2026. Photo by Kelly Waldron. SAFR describes itself as “the industry’s first unified facial recognition ecosystem — seamlessly spanning access control, surveillance, and mobile solutions” but with a mission to do so “without compromising personal privacy or data integrity.” If a customer’s picture doesn’t match a face on the watchlist, said Charisse Jacques, president at SAFR, it is deleted immediately. Individual stores can choose to manually create their own watchlists, or to pool data with other retailers. “It’s not about mass surveillance,” said Jacques. “It’s about ‘targeted deployment.’” Grocery Outlet, which is based in Emeryville, has five locations in San Francisco and many more across the Bay Area. Four of those locations have signs indicating that the store is using SAFR Guard: The Mission, Portola, Bayview and Richmond District locations. At the Grocery Outlet stores in Bayview and Portola, the same sign was printed on a transparent background, making it difficult to read. A sign at the Portola Grocery Outlet indicating that the store is using facial recognition technology on July 13, 2026. Photo by Kelly Waldron. It’s unclear how many other Grocery Outlet stores use this technology — the company’s business model involves leasing the stores to independent store operators — or how long individual stores have been doing so. A spokesperson for Grocery Outlet did not respond to multiple emails requesting a comment. Several employees at the Mission District store declined to comment as well, though one referred this reporter to the small sign by the door. Facial recognition technology has shown up in businesses elsewhere in San Francisco, and across the country, for years now. Several gay bars in the Castro use a system called Patronscan to identify blacklisted customers. The software does not appear to violate any of California’s privacy laws, according to Mario Trujillo, a senior attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights and privacy organization. In some other states, like Illinois, an individual is required to give “affirmative consent” for their biometric information to be taken. While the California Consumer Privacy Act gives consumers the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of biometric data collected by retailers, they need to contact the company and opt out from that data being shared after it’s gathered. If a person believes they are on the watchlist and would like their biometric data deleted, they can send an email to SAFR, said Jacques — the sign by the door has a QR linking to SAFR Guard’s privacy policy and contact information. In 2019, the Board of Supervisors banned the use of facial recognition software by city agencies (with some exceptions), but the ban does not apply to private companies. At the National Grocers Association’s conference in Las Vegas last February, a panel discussion sponsored by SAFR Guard featured two grocers who described the technology as a boon to their business for how quickly it could identify frequent shoplifters. “We had the problem that people would just go in there and fill up their shopping cart with, you name it, Tide, baby formula, items that they can resell on the black market, and then just basically felt entitled to them,” Luis Moreno, director of Fiesta Foods, a chain of Hispanic grocery stores in Washington state, told the audience. After Moreno scanned a collection of photos that he had collected of repeat offenders, he said, and uploaded it to SAFR Guard, he said, the system began to flag incoming customers, and the amount of lost inventory went down. Moreno did, he continued, have to take a customer out to breakfast after the customer raised concerns about the technology, before successfully coaxing the customer to continue shopping there. Other rollouts of biometric security systems have not gone so well. In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission banned Rite Aid from using facial recognition technology for the next five years, after a system used by the chain repeatedly mis-identified some customers as shoplifters. Studies have found that white men are most likely to be accurately identified by facial recognition systems, while Black women have a disproportionately high rate of being mis-identified. “There are going to be inaccuracies in any face recognition technology,” said Trujillo. “Those inaccuracies are compounded when you are using facial recognition from far away, and it’s not a passport-like photo of the individual, and it’s a quick timeframe.” Meanwhile, even if a customer can technically opt out of their data being shared, said Lee Hepner, a lawyer with the American Economic Liberties Project, who previously worked on developing San Francisco’s 2019 facial recognition ban, “very few people are going to do that.” “Grocery Outlet is an affordable grocer that caters to lower-income consumers, who may not have another option,” added Hepner. “There is a coercive element to this data collection, because some people cannot simply choose to not go to the grocery store.” Crime is generally on a downward trend in California, but reports of shoplifting have risen 48 percent since 2019, according to a 2025 report from the Public Policy Institute of Policy of California — though it cautioned that the rise could also be due to an increase in retailers reporting retail theft after a wave of media coverage of it post-pandemic. SAFR does not share any data with law enforcement, according to Jacques. The company’s privacy policy indicates that it may disclose personal information to comply with legal requirements like warrants, but Jacques said that this has not yet happened. “It’s to create a safer environment for both the workers and the shopper,” Jacques said. On Tuesday, the half a dozen or so shoppers at the Mission District location who spoke to _Mission Local_ had not noticed the sign. Some seemed unconcerned about the facial recognition. “I get it,” said Destiny, who had just finished a grocery run for her family. She said she appreciated that the cameras might make shopping more pleasant, she said, by helping retailers keep items out in the open, instead of them being locked behind plastic doors (no items at the Mission Grocery Outlet are currently locked behind doors). “We like to have a good experience,” she said. Others were less equivocal. “I’m bothered by that,” said Allan Fisher, after being told about the AI face-matching software. “I don’t like that,” added Alice York, as she loaded groceries into her car. “That’s without my consent. I’m not coming here again,” York added. “That’s a shame too.” #### We won't ignore your neighborhood When a San Francisco neighborhood has a _Mission Local_ reporter, **it means someone is there**. We're following new housing projects proposed on your block, keeping tabs on what your district supervisor is up to at City Hall, and letting you know when longtime businesses close (and new ones open). When big news breaks, we already know the context. Most neighborhoods don't have that. **_Yours could._** **That's what _Mission Local_ is building. **Our reporters don't parachute in -- they write consistently on San Francisco, so you're never reading about your neighborhood from someone who just looked it up. So far we are in five of San Francisco's neighborhoods. But we know all San Franciscans deserve our kind of coverage. **Will you join us?** Put a reporter on your block! ## Latest News ### S.F. DA charges sheriff’s deputy for allegedly groping woman in jail ### Walter Wong’s ‘kingdom’ sells to porn baron — a strange and terrible saga ### Meet the book readers of Dolores Park