Confusion among immigrants as some Americans receive orders to depart the nation

In McALLEN, Texas, Hubert Montoya received an email from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security instructing him to leave the country immediately or face deportation. The catch? Montoya is actually a U.S. citizen and found the situation rather amusing.

“I just thought it was absurd,” the Austin, Texas, immigration attorney said.

This incident stemmed from a mishap during the Trump administration’s efforts to undo a policy from the Biden era. The policy in question permitted individuals to reside and work in the U.S. temporarily. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been quietly invalidating two-year permits issued to individuals who utilized an online appointment system at U.S.-Mexico border crossings known as CBP One. This program facilitated the entry of over 900,000 individuals since January 2023.

The cancellation of CBP One permits was executed without much attention or formality compared to the cancellation of Temporary Protected Status for large numbers of individuals hailing from regions previously deemed unsafe to return to, as well as humanitarian parole for individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who arrived with financial sponsors. These significant policy changes were officially announced in the Federal Register and press releases. Legal challenges from advocacy groups led to court injunctions preventing their implementation.

CBP One cancellation notices began landing in inboxes in late March without warning, some telling recipients to leave immediately and others giving them seven days. Targets included U.S. citizens.

Timothy J. Brenner, a Connecticut-born lawyer in Houston, was told April 11 to leave the U.S. “I became concerned that the administration has a list of immigration attorneys or a database that they’re trying to target to harass,” he said.

CBP confirmed in a statement that it issued notices terminating temporary legal status under CBP One. It did not say how many, just that they weren’t sent to all beneficiaries, which totaled 936,000 at the end of December.

CBP said notices may have been sent to unintended recipients, including attorneys, if beneficiaries provided contact information for U.S. citizens. It is addressing those situations case-by-case.

Online chat groups reflect fear and confusion, which, according to critics, is the administration’s intended effect. Brenner said three clients who received the notices chose to return to El Salvador after being told to leave.

“The fact that we don’t know how many people got this notice is part of the problem. We’re getting reports from attorneys and folks who don’t know what to make of the notice,” said Hillary Li, counsel for the Justice Action Center, an advocacy group.

President Donald Trump suspended CBP One for new arrivals his first day in office but those already in the U.S. believed they could stay at least until their two-year permits expired. The cancellation notices that some received ended that sense of temporary stability. “It is time for you to leave the United States,” the letters began.

“It’s really confusing,” said Robyn Barnard, senior director for refugee advocacy at Human Rights First. “Imagine how people who entered through that process feel when they’re hearing through their different community chats, rumors or screenshots that some friends have received notice and others didn’t.”

Attorneys say some CBP One beneficiaries may still be within a one-year window to file an asylum claim or seek other relief.

Notices have been sent to others whose removal orders are on hold under other forms of temporary protection. A federal judge in Massachusetts temporarily halted deportations for more than 500,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who came since late 2022 after applying online with a financial sponsor and flying to a U.S. airport at their own expense.

Maria, a 48-year-old Nicaraguan woman who cheered Trump’s election and arrived via that path, said the notice telling her to leave landed like “a bomb. It paralyzed me.”

Maria, who asked to be named only by her middle name for fear of being detained and deported, said in a telephone interview from Florida that she would continue cleaning houses to support herself and file for asylum.

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Salomon reported from Miami. Associated Press writers Rebecca Santana in Washington and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed.