When Massachusetts resident Nicole Micheroni received an email on Friday from the federal government telling her to leave the country, she was baffled.
“At first I thought it was for a client, but I looked really closely and the only name on the email was mine,” said Micheroni. “So it said my parole status had been terminated and I should leave the country within seven days.”
But the 40-year-old is a U.S. citizen, born in Newton and raised in Sharon.
“Probably, hopefully, sent to me in error,” she said. “But it’s a little concerning these are going out to U.S. citizens.”
Micheroni is also an immigration attorney, working with many clients facing possible deportation issues, so her name and email are on a lot of paperwork.
“The language in the email is very threatening,” she said. “And it looks kind of like a sketchy spam email. It doesn’t look like an official government notice, but it is.”
In a statement, a senior Department of Homeland Security official told NBC10 Boston that Customs and Border Protection is issuing notices terminating parole for individuals who do not have lawful status to remain, and “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.”
“I think it’s really scary this is going on,” said Micheroni. “I think it says they’re not being careful.”
Micheroni posted about the email on social media and has received thousands of responses from around the world.
“I think it’s a scare tactic,” she said. “I think they want people afraid of immigration.”
Micheroni says she won’t be reaching out to Homeland Security, and figures this is an administrative error.
She hopes nothing more comes of it.
