Two immigration attorneys, both U.S. citizens, recently received notices from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Instead of containing information about cases involving their clients, the message contained orders instructing them to leave the country immediately.
Cleaning House
Soon after his inauguration for his second term, President Trump began following through on his promises to restrict the inflow of potential new citizens. He also set to work on expelling those waiting for their opportunity granted through a system created during President Joe Biden's tenure called CBP One.
Designed to reduce migrants and asylum seekers from making illegal attempts to enter the country, the CBP One app allowed those who wanted to enter the U.S. to make an appointment for an interview and track the progress of their application. In March 2025, the Trump administration changed the app's name to CBP Home and made its main function allowing non-citizens to alert the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) that they're leaving the U.S.
The need for this change in functionality greatly increased in April as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that they would begin revoking the presidential parole authority that allowed migrants to legally remain in the U.S. for up to two years with authorization to work while their applications were reviewed.
Over 900,000 people were part of the CBP program. The DHS sent out an email warning recipients "not to remain in the United States," and that "the federal government will find you." It further instructed them to self-deport using the CBP Home app. This is in addition to DHS canceling Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in March, which will affect close to a million refugees from unsafe countries who had financial sponsors and the right to work for two years.
President Trump has also invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1897 for justification to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members, despite the United States not currently being at war with Venezuela. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed him to do so but required that all potential deportees be given reasonable time for due process.
They Didn't Cover This in Law School
All of of the above means that immigration lawyers trying to keep their clients from being deported are extremely busy. As if that weren't enough, some have had an additional level of stress thrown on top.
Nicole Micheroni is an immigration lawyer born and raised in Massachusetts. Carmen Bello shares the same profession and has been a U.S. citizen since 2007. Both have received an email from the DHS telling them to self-deport before the federal government finds them and tosses them out.
Given that both attorneys have clients who received similar messages from the government, it's likely that their email addresses were accidentally added to the list of people having their presidential parole authority revoked. Given the stakes, Micheroni found the apparent incompetence unsettling and plans on keeping both her passport and her birth certificate close by. As of this writing, the federal government has not followed up with any action against either of them.
Related Resources
- What Are Law Firms Doing About Retaliation From the White House? (FindLaw's Practice of Law)
- Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Surrenders Law License in Face of 10 Count Complaint (FindLaw's Practice of Law)
