In a startling administrative blunder, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently sent emails titled “Notice of Termination of Parole” to several American citizens, instructing them to leave the country immediately.
The mass email campaign was meant for noncitizens from countries like Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, and Nicaragua who entered the US under humanitarian parole programs. However, the inclusion of US-born citizens in the mailing list has sparked alarm and renewed scrutiny of the accuracy of federal immigration databases.
According to a report by NBC News, the emails warned recipients that failure to leave the United States “immediately” could lead to “law enforcement actions” and “removal from the United States.”
The message also stated that benefits linked to their parole status, including work authorization, would be revoked unless they had secured another lawful immigration status.
Among the mistakenly contacted was Nicole Micheroni, an immigration attorney based in Boston. She recounted her reaction: “At first I thought it was for a client, and then I kind of laughed about it a little bit, and then I was a little concerned.” The unexpected message raised questions about whether her personal data had somehow been linked with a parolee’s file.
A senior DHS official later responded to the incident, explaining that US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is currently investigating and managing the misdirected notices on a case-by-case basis.
The official attributed the errors to scenarios where parole applicants may have listed contact information—including non-personal or shared email addresses—that later triggered incorrect mailings to unintended recipients.
Legal experts were quick to clarify that US citizens cannot be deported or placed under removal proceedings under current immigration law. Kristen Harris, an immigration attorney based in Chicago, explained, “There is certainly no legal effect under current statute or regulation for a citizen to be ‘parole terminated,’ especially since a US citizen would never, ever have been paroled in the first place.”
Still, attorneys are encouraging affected individuals to retain key identification documents, such as passports and birth certificates, as a precaution. “I’m not trying to cause people to panic,” said Micheroni, “but I think if you find yourself accidentally on a list, it’s not crazy to just have your documentation prepared somewhere.”
Others took the error more lightly. Philadelphia-based attorney Jonathan A. Grode, who also received the email, said, “I know that I’m a US citizen, not on parole. I’m not doing anything about it.” He joked that he had “a good little giggle” before deleting the message. Nonetheless, Grode criticized the government’s blunt handling of immigration enforcement, describing it as “a government of sledgehammers, not scalpels.”
So far, the federal government has not issued a general correction or apology for the error. Immigration advocates continue to warn that even seemingly harmless mistakes like this could erode public trust and pose future legal complications if not promptly addressed.
