Summary:
When immigration attorney Hubert Montoya was sent an email by the US Department of Homeland Security telling him to leave the country or risk being deported, he says his first reaction was to laugh.
“I just thought it was absurd,” the US citizen based in Austin, Texas said.
But as the Trump administration continues to dismantle the immigration polices of its predecessors, more and more people are getting caught up in the mass deportation drive.
US Customs and Border Protection is now quietly revoking two-year permits granted in the Biden-era of people who used an online appointment app at US border crossings with Mexico called CBP One. Starting in January 2023, this process has seen more than 900,000 people enter the country.
The cancellation of CBP One permits has so far lacked the attention or formality of President Donald Trump’s move to cancel Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of people whose homelands were previously deemed unsafe for return. This also extends to humanitarian parole for others from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who came with financial sponsors.
Those moves came with official notices in the Federal Register and press releases. Judges halted them from taking effect after advocacy groups sued.
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 US. He said: “I became concerned that the administration has a list of immigration attorneys or a database that they’re trying to target to harass.”
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 totalled 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 US citizens. It is addressing those situations case-by-case.
Sorry, the best we can offer is shooting an unarmed teen knocking on the door to ask for directions.