Tens of thousands of immigrants who were allowed to temporarily live and work in the United States under the Biden administration have recently received notices from the Department of Homeland Security instructing them to leave the country “immediately.”
The termination notices, which began being delivered electronically last week, suggest that migrants who complied with the previous administration's guidelines may now be among the most vulnerable as the current administration takes steps to fulfill its campaign promise of mass deportations.
Those who entered the country using the CBP One app, introduced in 2023 to manage the influx at the southwestern border, have been informed that their legal status would expire seven days after the date on their notice. Failure to depart voluntarily could lead to enforcement actions and deportation.
Joy Tucker, board chairwoman of a nonprofit organization in Tucson, Arizona, remarked that many migrants believed they were following the correct procedures by utilizing the government-provided app.
In an unexpected development, at least 10 immigration lawyers, most of whom are U.S. citizens, also received the departure notices, likely due to a glitch that linked their email addresses to their clients’ immigration documents.
While there have been some high-profile arrests of undocumented immigrants, the recent notices indicate that the majority of removals are likely to stem from the revocation of legal status rather than large-scale deportations of criminal migrants, as previously promised. Ahead of a meeting with the president of El Salvador, the White House identified around two dozen deportees as criminal gang members.
However, the number of noncriminal targets is significantly higher, with recent actions including the termination of temporary protections for over 10,000 individuals from Afghanistan and Cameroon, and the cancellation of a program that allowed approximately 500,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to reside in the U.S. The latter cancellation is currently being challenged in federal court.
Many immigrants who received departure orders in states like Arizona, Colorado, and Ohio may have legal grounds to remain in the country, according to immigration experts.
In New York City, where around 40,000 recent migrants are housed in shelters, notices began arriving last week, alarming city officials who redirected legal queries to a city hotline.
Legal experts expressed concern over the misleading nature of the emails, noting that many recipients have pending asylum petitions that could allow them to stay.
A senior official from the Department of Homeland Security indicated that the notifications were sent to the email addresses provided by immigrants, acknowledging that some notices may have reached unintended recipients. The official stated that U.S. Customs and Border Protection would address issues on a case-by-case basis.
Immigration attorneys who mistakenly received the notices expressed confusion and concern, highlighting the aggressive language of the emails that could incite anxiety among immigrant families.
The move to revoke the status of individuals who used the app aligns with a broader effort by the Trump administration to dismantle discretionary programs established by the Biden administration, which had permitted around 1.5 million people to be paroled into the U.S.
The revocation of CBP One and the introduction of a “self-deportation” app reflect a shift in policy, aiming to encourage migrants to demonstrate their departure from the United States.
Many migrants who utilized the CBP One app had endured lengthy waits in Mexico before being paroled into the U.S., where they typically sought asylum and received work permits.
Frantzdy Jerome, a Haitian immigrant working at an Amazon warehouse, received a termination notice stating that his parole had been revoked, yet he remains hopeful due to his pending asylum case.
Concerns about job security arise, as work permits typically expire when protected status is revoked, leaving employers uncertain about the employment status of affected individuals.
The situation has generated panic among families, as noted by a teacher in Denver, whose Venezuelan students' families are grappling with the implications of the notices.