A U.S. citizen in Massachusetts who works as an immigration attorney received a letter from federal immigration authorities telling her to self-deport.
A second Massachusetts immigration attorney says she received a letter from the federal government telling her to leave the country despite being a U.S. citizen.
Carmen Bello, an attorney based in Norwood, was told to self-deport in a letter from the Department of Homeland Security.
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The letter cites an expiration of her parole, but Bello says she's been a U.S. citizen for nearly 20 years and isn't under parole.
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Bello says many of her clients also received the same letter.
"Pretty much going by whatever email we have in the parole application, we're getting sent a letter. And they're not even checking if it's the attorney's email or the applicant's email," Bello said. "I think there's a lack of responsibility on the department on sending the letters like this."
Another immigration attorney, Nicole Micheroni, received a similar letter Friday. She is also a U.S. citizen, born in Newton and raised in Sharon.
"At first I thought it was for a client, but I looked really closely and the only name on the email was mine," Micheroni told NBC10 Boston this weekend. "So it said my parole status had been terminated and I should leave the country within seven days."
"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," a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said in a statement. "CBP is monitoring communications and will address any issues on a case-by-case basis."
