An immigration attorney was taken aback after her wife received an email from the US government notifying her of a parole rejection and instructing her to leave the United States immediately. Bridget Cambria, while sharing the alleged email from the US Department of Homeland Security, said that her wife is a US citizen and has never applied for parole.
“Welp. This morning (at 1 am) my US citizen wife received an email notice revoking her (never applied for) ‘parole’ and instructing her to immediately leave the United States,” wrote Cambria while sharing a screengrab of the email her wife received on X (formerly Twitter).
‘Time for you to leave US’
The email began with the words, “It is time for you to leave the United States. You are currently here because the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) paroled you into the United States for a limited period.”
“Pursuant to 8 USC sections 1182(d)(5)(A) and 8 CFR sections 212.5(e), DHS is now exercising its discretion to terminate your parole. Unless it expires sooner, your parole will terminate 7 days from the date of this notice,” it added. According to the US Department of Justice, parole is a legal process that allows someone who has been in prison to serve the remainder of their sentence under supervision in the community, rather than behind bars. If the parole is rejected, the prisoner will be released at a date provided by deducting the total of good time days from the full term date.
The email further warned, “If you do not depart the United States immediately, you will be subject to potential law enforcement actions that will result in your removal from the United States – unless you have otherwise obtained a lawful basis to remain here.”
It stated that “any benefits the recipient enjoys in the United States connected with her parole – such as work authorisation – will also be terminated”. The email, with the subject line – Notice of termination of parole, noted that the failure to leave the country on an immediate basis could lead to “potential criminal prosecution, civil fines and penalties, and any other lawful options available to the federal government”.
Welp. This morning (at 1am) my US citizen wife received an email notice revoking her (never applied for) “parole?” and instructing her to immediately leave the United States. pic.twitter.com/SiwW1lnFtz
— Bridget Cambria (@BridgetCambria8) April 11, 2025
The post, shared on April 11, has clocked over 1.5 million views. In the comments section of the post, Cambria shared the sender’s email address, which is – automatedmessage@cbp.dhs.gov. When people flagged that the email might be a hoax, she said, “I am an attorney and I know it is real. Because clients received it as well.”
In another comment, she claimed that the government has been “mass emailing” such emails to people living in the US for many weeks now, and said, “In the security of knowing that we are citizens, it’s easy to ignore. It was my first reaction. But for non-citizens who aren’t and who are in process, or have a status that is not citizenship – you can’t ignore that trauma.”
While the attorney said that the email her wife received is legitimate, one Reddit post claims that hundreds of people have been receiving “scam emails from CBP and DHS”. The post reads, “Please be aware of potential scam email from donotreply@cbp.dhs.gov. Some of these emails contain info about deportation, termination of parole, leaving the country, compliance check, etc. Those emails may be a scam, and I would recommend talking to an attorney before you click anywhere or do anything.”