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WASHINGTON – One night this month, Los Angeles immigration attorney Harriet Steele opened an email to a notification from the Department of Homeland Security.
“Now is the time to leave the United States.”
Steel was confused – and worried. She is a US citizen born in Los Angeles, but was worried that email was aimed at clients.
The email she received on April 10 at 9:41pm Pacific time was a notice of parole in a much-expanded form of humanitarian legal entry under the Biden administration.
Under President Trump’s massive deportation agenda, his administration targets people who have entered the country legally, as well as those who have entered the country illegally.
This month, the Trump administration revoked the legal status and work permits of immigrants who entered the United States using the Biden-era border booking app. Over 900,000 people have been paroleed to the country under that program, but it is unclear how many parole beneficiaries will be affected by the actions of the Trump administration in exile and other legal routes.
The administration also revoked another form of parole as more than 500,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela flew to the United States at their own expense. However, federal judges stopped termination last week.
In an email statement regarding emails telling people to leave the country, the Department of Homeland Security said that U.S. Customs and Border Protection will send such notices using the known email addresses of each immigrant.
“If an alien provides impersonal email, such as contact with American citizens, the notification may have been sent to an unintended recipient,” the statement reads. “CBP monitors communications and addresses issues on a case-by-case basis.”
However, Steele said no clients have entered the US under the parole process. She represents unaccompanied children through public advisors at a pro bono law firm.
“The Trump administration operates in many ways with a mix of cruelty and incompetence,” she said. “It’s hard to know what the exact process of receiving that email was during midnight East Coast time.”
Steele said the notice indicates “this fear that the Trump administration is trying to create.” Citing “ramp-prolonged fraud and merciless claims,” the administration issued a memo last month ordering immigration lawyers sanctions and more stringent surveillance.
The notice received by Steele states that DHS has used its discretion to terminate parole. It warns of potential criminal prosecutions, civil fines and penalties.
“Don’t try to stay in the US, the federal government will find you,” the notification concludes.
That message is passing through some people living in the country without permission. Immigration rights activists and lawyers say they’re hearing from people who choose to self-report.
Steele is not the only US citizen to receive such notice. Another Massachusetts immigration lawyer received the same email as a Connecticut doctor.
American immigration lawyer assn. This month we issued a practice alert warning about termination notifications. The lawyers began receiving notifications around April 8, the association said, and in some cases the notification was delivered to an attorney that has nothing to do with the person’s parole process.
“At this point it is unclear how many individuals have received similar notifications and what the correct next step is,” the alert said.
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