An attorney born in Boston has come forward with an account of receiving a deportation notice from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Pamela Rioles Saeed, a U.S. citizen and immigration attorney based in Tucson, Arizona, said she was stunned to receive an email from DHS instructing her to leave the United States within seven days.
Newsweek reached out to the DHS for comment on Thursday.
Why It Matters
As President Donald Trump continues to carry out his promised mass deportations of undocumented and criminal migrants, there have been reports that other U.S. citizens—including immigration attorneys, doctors, and nonprofit advocates for refugees—have also received deportation notices.
The DHS confirmed that the notices were intended for migrants whose temporary parole status in the U.S. had expired. However, a DHS spokesperson acknowledged in a written statement to NBC News that “notices may have been sent to unintended recipients.”
What To Know
Rioles Saeed, who was born and raised in Boston and works at Goldman & Goldman in Tucson representing asylum seekers and migrants, said she received the notice at her work email address—likely because her contact information is frequently included in her clients’ immigration applications.
“We’ve heard reports of immigration attorneys being targeted, but at first I thought, surely this is for a client. Then I realized, no, this is addressed to me and no one else,” she told The Arizona Republic.
“If you’d asked me that question a year ago, I would have said, no, it was 100 percent a mistake,” she told the outlet. “But I don’t know now. I think it could be an intimidation tactic to send it to immigration attorneys as well.”
. AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File
According to the Department of Homeland Security, if migrants listed a nonpersonal contact—such as a lawyer’s professional email—that contact may have been incorrectly targeted.
“CBP is monitoring communications and will address any issues on a case-by-case basis,” the agency told NBC News.
Other U.S. citizens, including immigration attorneys and nonprofit organizations that advocate for refugees, have also received similar notices.
Nicole Micheroni, a partner at Cameron Law Offices in Massachusetts, told Newsweek last week that she initially believed the email was a mistake, as she was born in the U.S. and has no parole status to be terminated.
“It caught me a little off guard. But afterwards, I was like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe they’re sending this out to people it clearly doesn’t apply to.'”
What People Are Saying
A senior DHS official told Newsweek: “CBP has issued notices terminating parole for individuals who do not have lawful status to remain. This process is not limited to CBP One users and does not currently apply to those paroled under programs such as U4U and OAW.”
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Needless to say, even if they admit error and take it back, this is the kind of thing that can send a lot of fear through communities. The government has a responsibility to slow down and make sure it gets it right in each case. There is a reason we have procedures for things.”
What Happens Next
In recent days, reports emerged that the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency had been given access to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services data to automate the dismantling of the parole system. However, it was not immediately clear how individuals not enrolled in the programs were included on the email lists.
