Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
Boston immigration attorney, a citizen, told by DHS to leave the country in apparent mistake
Nicole Micheroni, who was born in Newton, received a sparse email telling her she had a week to leave the country.
The Department of Homeland Security sent a notice that Nicole Micheroni’s parole had been terminated and directed her to leave the country. But, Micheroni, an immigration lawyer, was born in Newton, she wrote on social media.
“It is time for you to leave the United States,” the email sent on Friday said, according to a screenshot posted on social media. “Do not attempt to remain in the United States – the federal government will find you. Please depart the United States immediately.”
Micheroni is a partner at Cameron, Micheroni, & Silva, an immigration law firm based in downtown Boston. She attended Wellesley College and Temple School of Law, according to her work biography, and specializes in asylum law and visa work.
Advertisement:
“Some personal news: the Department of Homeland Security has given me, an immigration lawyer born in Newton, Massachusetts, seven days to leave the U.S. Does anyone know if you can get Italian citizenship through great-grandparents?” Micheroni shared on Bluesky.
In a statement, a senior DHS official confirmed that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency has been terminating parole for individuals without legal status, including more than 900,000 who entered the country through the CBP One app. The Biden-era app, which streamlined asylum seeking for individuals entering the country, was shut down by the Trump Administration in January.
Advertisement:
The unnamed DHS spokesperson noted that individuals paroled through U4U, for Ukrainians, and OAW, for Afghan nationals, have not been affected.
“CBP used the known email addresses of the alien to send notifications. 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,” the senior officials said.
Micheroni confirmed to WIRED that the email, which is similar to the one received by users of CBP One, was real. She acknowledged that it’s possible the email was intended for one of her clients.
“I don’t feel like I’m actually going to be deported in seven days, but it’s concerning that this is the level of care they’re using to send these out,” Micheroni told WIRED.
The email, which didn’t include any personal details about which parole program or any exemptions, only noted that “your parole will terminate 7 days from the date of this notice.”
“A lot of people that are here on parole status don’t know the nuances of immigration law, so they get this email and they don’t know if it applies to them,” Micheroni said, according to WIRED. “And most of them assume that it does because everything is really scary for people right now.”
Advertisement:
Micheroni’s firm did not immediately return a request for comment Sunday evening.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com