On Friday, federal authorities ordered Nicole Micheroni to leave the country within seven days.
As of Tuesday, Micheroni — a 40-year-old U.S. citizen, immigration attorney and Massachusetts resident — told MSNBC that she has heard nothing from the Department of Homeland Security, which she believes mistakenly sent the notice that told her “it is time for you to leave the United States.”
“The process is a mess right now,” Micheroni said. “DHS is not being careful.”
The email came from a no-reply address, Micheroni said, and informed her that her “parole” — which in immigration law allows non-citizens to enter or remain in the United States for limited periods of time — had been terminated, according to a screenshot of the email shared with NBC Boston.
“If you do not deport the United States immediately you will be subject to potential law enforcement actions that will result in your removal from the United States,” the email says.
The notice was sent to her work email, Micheroni said, but it was different than the emails she typically gets from immigration authorities about clients. There was no name included in the message, she said, nor was there a case number.
Initially, Micheroni wasn’t sure if it was real.
“I kind of laughed at first, and then I was like, wait a minute,” she said. “This is very concerning.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. But in a statement to NBC Boston, a department official said that a separate agency — Customs and Border Protection — is issuing parole termination notices to people who do not have lawful status to remain in the United States.
“CBP used the known email addresses of the alien to send notifications,” the official said. “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.”
A second U.S. citizen and Boston-area immigration attorney, Carmen Bello, told NBC Boston that she, too, received a notice of parole termination telling her to leave the country.
“They’re not even checking if it’s the attorney’s email or the applicant’s email,” Bello said, referring to migrants who have applied for parole. “I think there’s a lack of responsibility on the department on sending the letters like this.”
