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NY immigrants are seeing a grim email in their inboxes: ‘It is time for you to leave’
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Apr 15, 2025
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PEDRO MATTEY/AFP via Getty Images
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Apr 15, 2025
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Hundreds of thousands of immigrants in New York City and beyond are receiving emails from the Trump administration stating their authorization to remain in the United States has been revoked and they must leave the country immediately, according to local immigration attorneys and copies of the emails shared with Gothamist.
“It is time for you to leave the United States,” the mass email from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security advises, including this warning: “Do not attempt to remain in the United States — the federal government will find you.”
The communications assert that the recipients’ immigration “parole” – temporary permission for immigrants to live in the United States due to some “urgent humanitarian reasons” or “significant public benefit” – has been terminated. Since taking office Jan. 20, President Donald Trump has terminated such parole for hundreds of thousands of immigrants.
But now the mass email notifications of the changes — addressed to no named recipient — have sowed chaos and confusion among those on the receiving end, who have included some U.S. citizens, according to Hasan Shafiqullah, an immigration attorney at the Legal Aid Society and a U.S. citizen who recently received the email.
Shafiqullah and Raluca Oncioiu, managing attorney of Catholic Migration Services’ immigration program, say attorneys from their groups have received frantic calls and requests from clients wondering what to do.
Some parolees may, in fact, have to leave the United States, and will have their work permits invalidated as a result of the Trump administration’s ending their parole, Shafiqullah and Oncioiu said. But other parolees may still be able to stay in the United States as they pursue other immigration relief. Circumstances may vary among parolees, the lawyers stress, making a mass email inappropriate.
Steve Bansbach, a CBP spokesperson, said the agency has sent notices terminating parole “for individuals who do not have lawful status to remain.” But he also acknowledged some emails could have been misdirected. He said the notices were sent to “the known email addresses of the alien,” and notices may have been sent to unintended recipients if another person’s email was provided to the agency instead.
“CBP is monitoring communications and will address any issues on a case-by-case basis,” Bansbach said.
A copy of a mass email from the Department of Homeland Security being sent to immigrants in New York City and beyond. The notices are meant to advise recipients their temporary protected status or authorization to remain in the United States has been revoked. Some immigration attorneys say they are receiving the notices in error.
Bansbach said the emails do not apply to immigrants who received parole through the Uniting for Ukraine or Afghan Operation Allies Welcome programs, he said.
But he added that the threat in the messages should be taken seriously: “To be clear: If you are an alien, being in the United States is a privilege — not a right. We are acting in the best interest of the country and enforcing the law accordingly.”
Immigrants and attorneys started receiving the notices after DHS announced in March that it was revoking humanitarian parole for hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in the United States under the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan parole program. On Monday, a federal judge in Boston temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ending the program. Over 531,000 immigrants have received parole through that program through the end of last year, according to U.S Customs and Border Protection data.
In legal actions challenging the administration’s ending parole, immigrants have argued the terminations would in some cases mean deporting immigrants to nations experiencing “humanitarian crisis.” Additionally, in court papers, immigrants facing removal have attributed the White House action to “racial animus,” noting that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Trump “have repeatedly made racist remarks to attack nonwhite immigrants.”
The Trump administration has dismissed the criticism, saying the parole programs have been used to allow people who otherwise didn’t have immigration pathways to settle in the United States.
At least three attorneys from Catholic Migration Services and some clients have also received the email notices, according to Oncioiu. Immigration attorneys at the Door, a youth services organization, have also received the notices, according to Meena Shah, co-managing director of the group’s legal services center.
Reports have emerged of other immigrants across the nation, as far away as California, receiving the same email notice in recent weeks.
Shafiqullah says he’s aware of over 15 other attorneys across New York state who have received similar notices.
“However this is being initiated, it seems like there's definitely an error in who's getting the emails,” Oncioiu said.
The attorneys said the mass mailings were unfair, given the lack of consideration for individuals’ personal circumstances.
“ It doesn't seem like they're doing any sort of individualized assessment about is parole still warranted or not,” said Shafiqullah. “For them to do it in a mass email without individualizing even the name, without individualizing it to the person's circumstances is totally reckless and irresponsible.”
Tagged
new york city
Race And Justice Unit
immigration
Arya Sundaram
Arya is a reporter covering race and justice. Got a tip? Email: [email protected] or reach Arya on Signal at 512-650-8767.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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