Sudden DHS Notices Leave Thousands of Asylum Petitioners Fearing Deportation Despite Entering The U.S. Legally

Thousands of migrants who entered the United States legally through the CBP One app during the Biden administration have been receiving abrupt notices from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) instructing them to leave the country or risk deportation.

The notices have triggered confusion, fear, and legal uncertainty, particularly because they have also been sent to U.S. citizens and immigration attorneys, presumably by mistake.

CBP One, an appointment app launched under the Biden administration in January 2023, enabled migrants to schedule legal entry at the U.S.-Mexico border. By the end of that year, over 936,000 individuals had used the app to enter the country under a two-year temporary permission. Right after taking office, the Trump administration ended new entries through CBP One and began revoking existing permits.

The sudden termination of temporary legal status has not been accompanied by public announcements, unlike prior changes to programs such as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or humanitarian parole, which included formal notifications and judicial challenges.

Instead, emails began reaching inboxes in late March, some demanding immediate departure and others giving people seven days to do so. "It's time for you to abandon the United States," read one such message sent to a Honduran family reported by El Pais a few weeks back. In all, nearly one million migrants who legally entered the United States over the past year through the CBP One app are now also facing the possibility of deportation.

Among those who received the notice was Hubert Montoya, an immigration attorney and U.S. citizen in Austin, Texas interviewed by Telemundo in a new piece. "I simply thought it was absurd," he said. Another attorney reached by the news site, Timothy J. Brenner of Houston, also received a notice explaining that he "was concerned the government might be using a list of immigration lawyers to harass us," he said.

CBP has acknowledged that some notices were mistakenly sent to unintended recipients due to shared contact information, according to Telemundo. The agency stated it is addressing such cases individually.

Advocacy groups and legal experts, however, have voiced concerns over the lack of transparency and the legal implications for those affected. "The fact that we don't know how many people received this notice is part of the problem," said Hillary Li, an attorney with the Justice Action Center. "People don't know what to do with it."

Robyn Barnard of Human Rights First added, "It's really confusing. Imagine hearing through community chats that some people got the notice and others didn't."