The Department of Homeland Security said Monday that an email it sent ordering Massachusetts immigration lawyer Nicole Micheroni to self-deport within a week or “the federal government will find you” was addressed to her in error.
“It is time for you to leave the United States,” said the email to Nicole Micheroni, a partner at Cameron Micheroni & Silvia, Boston.com reported. “DHS is now exercising its discretion to terminate your parole. Unless it expires sooner, your parole will terminate seven days from the date of this notice.”
The message only got more ominous: “Do not attempt to remain in the United States — the federal government will find you.”
At first, Micheroni thought the letter was intended for one of her clients.
“It took me a couple of minutes to realize it was sent to me instead of someone I represent,” she told the Boston Globe, which first reported the incident.
“The language in the email is very threatening,” she told NBC affiliate WBTS-TV. “And it looks kind of like a sketchy spam email. It doesn’t look like an official government notice, but it is.”
DHS later said Micheroni received the letter in error, though she said it was not clear why they had her address, since clients must supply their own email address for any updates.
“CBP used the known email addresses of the alien to send notifications,” a senior Department of Homeland Security official told WBTS. “If a non-personal email-such as an American citizen contact-was provided by the alien, notices may have been sent to unintended recipients. CBP is monitoring communications and will address any issues on a case-by-case basis.”
Having been born in the Boston suburb of Newton, Mass., Micheroni is not on any kind of parole, and there is no place to deport her to, she noted.
The move appears to be linked to the Trump administration’s yanking of the CBP One app, which President Biden launched as a way for migrants to stay and work in the U.S. for a two-year “parole” period while awaiting an appointment to have their case heard. As soon as Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials began turning away migrants at the Mexico border, canceling their appointments.
The app has since been converted to a self-deportation tool, revoking the legal status of hundreds of thousands of people who had been allowed into the country under the program since January 2023.
Immigration officials have even changed the app’s name to CBP Home. A federal judge on Thursday blocked the Trump administration from ordering hundreds of thousands of people with temporary legal status from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela out of the country.
Micheroni took the opportunity to explain what immigration “parole” means, “and what Trump is doing here” in a thread on BlueSky.
“Revocation of parole isn’t the same as a deportation order, and this email does not initiate deportation proceedings,” wrote Micheroni, who has practiced immigration law for 12 years. “Anyone who has received this may still have options and should talk to an immigration lawyer NOW.”
With News Wire Services
