“You Must Leave”: DHS Mistakenly Targets American Worker in Deportation Scare

Nicole Micheroni, an immigration attorney and lifelong U.S. citizen, was shocked when she received an email from the federal government telling her to leave the country within seven days.

“At first, I thought it was a notice for one of my clients,” Micheroni said. “But then I looked closer and saw it had only my name. That’s when I realized — they were telling me to leave.”

Micheroni, 40, was born in Newton and raised in Sharon, Massachusetts. She’s not only a citizen but also helps people facing deportation as part of her job. So, getting a deportation-style email from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) felt both confusing and frightening.

The email stated that her “parole status” had ended and she had to leave the U.S. immediately.

“It looked like spam at first, but it was real,” she said. “The language was threatening, and it’s scary to think this can happen to a citizen.”

DHS later said that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) uses email addresses provided in immigration paperwork. If someone used her professional email for their own forms, the system might have sent the message to her by mistake. They said they would handle such cases individually.

Still, Micheroni believes this shows carelessness. “It’s really scary this is going on,” she said. “It feels like they’re not being careful, and that’s a big problem.”

She posted about the email online, and thousands of people from around the world have reacted.

“I think it’s a scare tactic,” she added. “I won’t be contacting DHS. I’m assuming it was just a big mistake.”

For now, she’s staying put — right where she belongs.