Lawyers and other residents across the Inland Northwest received a letter last week from the Department of Homeland Security telling them they have seven days to leave the United States or face legal consequences.
"Do not attempt to remain in the United States — the federal government will find you. Please depart the United States immediately," the letter reads.
Olga Lucia Herrera, community liaison at the Spokane Immigrant Rights Coalition, was told about the letter after someone brought it up to her and they didn't know what to do.
Since then, she has found at least 20 people who have received the same letter.
"They're panicking. They were already scared, and now they're more scared," Herrera said.
The confusion comes as the second Trump administration has taken numerous unprecedented measures to crack down on immigration.
The emailed letters were not addressed to any specific names and started with: "It is time for you to leave the United States."
Jason Givens, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman, told The Spokesman-Review and Spokane Public Radio that they have issued notices terminating parole for individuals who do not have lawful status to remain. Many people seeking legal status are paroled, meaning they have to check in with immigration officials on a regular basis.
This letter was not limited to users of the federal online and mobile app for immigrants, CBP One, and does not currently apply to those paroled under programs such as U4U and OAW, according to their statement. U4U stands for Uniting for Ukraine, a humanitarian program that aims to help refugees and immigrants from Ukraine. OAW stands for Operation Allies Welcome, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security-led effort to support refugees from Afghanistan.
"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,” Givens said.
Luis Cortes, attorney at Novo Legal LLC in Seattle, said parole started for certain individuals, such as Afghans and Ukrainians. But then the Biden Administration expanded the parole program for people from certain nations. These include Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Haiti.
"This was Biden's approach to try to stop the surge of people coming from the southern border, because we started seeing a lot of people coming in through the southern border who are from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti," Cortes said. "The idea is that instead of them either coming across the border and not being detected, what's happening is that they would come across the border to try to turn themselves into CBP."
When they turn themselves over, Cortes said they go through rounds of background checks, finding a sponsor in the United States and asking questions on the state of their situation.
"Once all of that is set, then you can come into the United States; the parole, the authorized stay in the United States, is for typically one year that can be renewed," Cortes said. "Or what most people are doing is that they're applying for asylum once they're here. Has everybody applied for asylum? No. So you have all of these parolees in the United States who are in different sections of their immigration processes."
"And what the letter really does in its functionality is that it creates a lot of chaos and confusion, which is part of this administration," he said.
Some who are U.S. citizens or have legal status have also received this letter.
"I've heard of plenty of immigration attorneys in Washington and others receiving these despite the fact that these immigration attorneys are U.S. citizens and cannot be forced to leave the United States," said Aaron Korthuis, staff attorney at Northwest Immigrant Rights Project.
Korthuis said knowing that immigration attorneys are receiving this letter undermines the parole process, and he said he finds it strange that they have been thrown into the mix.
Other lawyers across the country also have gotten this message. Nicole Micheroni, a lawyer based in Boston, has been outspoken after receiving the letter last Friday.
"It took me a couple of minutes to realize it was sent to me, instead of someone I represent," Micheroni told The Boston Globe.
Givens, of CBP, said the agency is aware that some people legally in the country received the order to leave.
"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," CBP said in the statement.
Herrera said she sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner regarding the concerns of numerous people in the community who have received the letter from DHS.
"Most of the individuals who received these emails were never granted parole, nor do they have any documentation indicating they ever had such status. Many are asylum seekers, individuals with pending immigration relief, or undocumented people with no criminal history who have lived in the U.S. peacefully for years," her letter to Baumgartner states.
A spokesman for Baumgartner said he was unavailable for comment Thursday.
"The biggest piece of advice is that people need to make sure that they talk to somebody before they make any moves, before they decide to do or not do anything. They should talk to somebody because, you know, they want to make sure that the steps that they're taking are precise to their situation," Cortes said.
He added that there's "nothing illegal" about their entry into the country.
"They applied with the government. They came in on their own dime, with the permission of the government. There's nothing about the word 'illegal' that remotely fits in here, but, I mean, the Trump Administration has again shown that they're not worried about accuracy," he said.
Monica Carrillo-Casas is a Murrow News fellow for Spokane Public Radio and The Spokesman-Review. All stories produced by Murrow Local News fellows can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. Image rights may vary.
