CT woman gets Homeland Security email to leave country despite being a US citizen

[essentialsaltes]

“It is time for you to leave the United States.” That’s the first sentence Lisa Anderson saw in an email she got from the Department of Homeland Security on Friday.

“The language seemed pretty threatening to whomever it might actually apply to,” she said.

Anderson, who’s a physician and lives in Cromwell, was born in Pennsylvania and is a U.S. citizen.

She now carries her passport on the advice of attorneys

This comes just days after two Boston immigration attorneys got the same email from DHS, despite being U.S. citizens themselves.

 

[GoldenBoy89]

“It is time for you to leave the United States.” That’s the first sentence Lisa Anderson saw in an email she got from the Department of Homeland Security on Friday.

“The language seemed pretty threatening to whomever it might actually apply to,” she said.

Anderson, who’s a physician and lives in Cromwell, was born in Pennsylvania and is a U.S. citizen.

She now carries her passport on the advice of attorneys

This comes just days after two Boston immigration attorneys got the same email from DHS, despite being U.S. citizens themselves.

It’s insane that an American citizen would be told to carry around their passport just in case, to avoid a possible illegal arrest and deportation to El Salvador from this administration.

 

[Paulos23]

It’s insane that an American citizen would be told to carry around their passport just in case, to avoid a possible illegal arrest and deportation to El Salvador from this administration.

That is where we are now. I already have a RealID on me, and I am going for passports for the whole family, even though we don't look like the targeted population.

Never know when they will widen that net.

 

[essentialsaltes]

It’s insane that an American citizen would be told to carry around their passport just in case, to avoid a possible illegal arrest and deportation to El Salvador from this administration.

If carrying documents and showing them to authorities whenever asked is what it takes to rid the nation of undesirables, it's a small price to pay.

 

[wing2000]

Should I check my junk folder?

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Some additional information:

A senior DHS official told HuffPost on Monday that Micheroni was likely contacted by mistake because a non-U.S. citizen used her email as their own while accessing the CBP One mobile app.

“CBP uses 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. CBP is monitoring communications and will address any issues on a case-by-case basis,” the official said.


That scenario could also explain why two Boston Immigration Attorneys got the same email. When representing clients who are non-US citizens, a lot of non-residents are going to know what your email address is.


Actually, this isn't uncommon, I actually had someone trying to use my work email to register with the ArriveCAN system, which is a similar system that they implemented that was required for traveling to Canada during covid. Reason being, if you were one of the one selected for a Random PCR test, if the results ended up coming back positive a day or two later (or there was some problem with the test you submitted to them at the border, they could send you a notice that you need to pack up and head out)

Canada, however, was smart enough to put 2-step verification in place. (I have a real ArriveCAN account registered with a different email address)


Ultimately, what needs to happen is that DHS needs to incorporate 2-step verification on their CBP One app so that a person has to verify the email is actually theirs before it'll let some random person save it on their profile.

 

[durangodawood]

Its good to keep citizens on their toes. A fearful population is a compliant population.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Its good to keep citizens on their toes. A fearful population is a compliant population.

I'm surprised that the CPB One app didn't have 2-step email verification. That's pretty much the standard even for less critical non-governmental systems that rely on push/email/sms notifications.

 

[durangodawood]

I'm surprised that the CPB One app didn't have 2-step email verification. That's pretty much the standard even for less critical non-governmental systems that rely on push/email/sms notifications.

I expect an overall decline in median competence from fed govt administrators as personal loyalty begins to trump expertise in the new regime. From here I cant attribute any particular instance to that. But its a trend I expect.

 

[RDKirk]

That is where we are now. I already have a RealID on me, and I am going for passports for the whole family, even though we don't look like the targeted population.

Never know when they will widen that net.

We've done that.

 

[RDKirk]

If carrying documents and showing them to authorities whenever asked is what it takes to rid the nation of undesirables, it's a small price to pay.

Back during the Cold War, I used to think only commie countries did that.

 

[RDKirk]

I expect an overall decline in median competence from fed govt administrators as personal loyalty begins to trump expertise in the new regime. From here I cant attribute any particular instance to that. But its a trend I expect.

Loyalty plus fear plus lack of personnel.

Let's be sure to understand: An incompetent Executive Branch is what Maga wants...it gives the president more room to wiggle as he pleases. Can't have any competent people in there saying, "Ahksually...."

 

[durangodawood]

If only there was some kind of mark that could be permanently installed on true and proper citizens.....

 

[Goonie]

If only there was some kind of mark that could be permanently installed on true and proper citizens.....

Obviously a tattooed/branded 'T' on the forehead.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

I expect an overall decline in median competence from fed govt administrators as personal loyalty begins to trump expertise in the new regime. From here I cant attribute any particular instance to that. But its a trend I expect.

The poor design and problematic trajectory of the CPB app's scope (and it's expanded usage) actually pre-dates the current administration.

A little background, it was originally designed to be for commercial vehicles to pre-schedule cargo inspections to help streamline the border crossing procedures by aiding CPB so they could "right-size" their border staffing at certain land ports of entry when making out schedules.

It was in 2023 when the Biden administration decided to expand the app's scope to try to allow it to be used as the primary method for migrants without entry documents to pre-notify certain ports of entry that they'd be showing up and allowing them to pre-fill out certain information for the asylum application process.

As someone who works in IT/Software, the Biden administration made the mistake that I see account execs and project managers make with their "How can we do this the fastest? Is it done yet? How about now?" mentality.

"We already have this other app that performs some of the same functions, it'll be quicker and cheaper if we can shoehorn this other stuff in with it rather than designing something new"

...it really should've been a whole new system.

To his credit, Senator Ed Markey called out the usage of the app for that purpose for a couple of reasons.
1) The technical limitations (it was buggy, it lacked the privacy, validation, and authentication mechanisms that should go hand-in-hand when we're talking about sensitive info about actual people vs. what it was originally intended to be used for, which was cargo and freight inspection logistics)

You need to have some more robust validating and authenticating when we're actually talking about letting undocumented people in vs. what would be needed for a commercial trucking company notify CPB that "hey, a driver will be getting to the Peace Bridge next Tuesday around 2:30 with a truckload of potato chips and cookies"



2) Given that it's a smart phone application, it actually presents a fairness issue by being set at the "primary method of asylum application". Whereby the only people who can use it like an "asylum fast-pass" are the seekers who can afford a smart phone...which obviously doesn't apply to everyone.



In a nutshell, if the app had "undocumented migrant application notification" shoehorned in, and was set up to email people to notify them if their application was rejected and that they needed to leave, there's not much the current administration can do to account for the fact that someone back in 2023 looked up someone else's email address online and put that in the "send notifications about my case to:" box.

 

[durangodawood]

The poor design and problematic trajectory of the CPB app's scope (and it's expanded usage) actually pre-dates the current administration.

A little background, it was originally designed to be for commercial vehicles to pre-schedule cargo inspections to help streamline the border crossing procedures by aiding CPB so they could "right-size" their border staffing at certain land ports of entry when making out schedules.

It was in 2023 when the Biden administration decided to expand the app's scope to try to allow it to be used as the primary method for migrants without entry documents to pre-notify certain ports of entry that they'd be showing up and allowing them to pre-fill out certain information for the asylum application process.

As someone who works in IT/Software, the Biden administration made the mistake that I see account execs and project managers make with their "How can we do this the fastest? Is it done yet? How about now?" mentality.

"We already have this other app that performs some of the same functions, it'll be quicker and cheaper if we can shoehorn this other stuff in with it rather than designing something new"

...it really should've been a whole new system.

To his credit, Senator Ed Markey called out the usage of the app for that purpose for a couple of reasons.
1) The technical limitations (it was buggy, it lacked the privacy, validation, and authentication mechanisms that should go hand-in-hand when we're talking about sensitive info about actual people vs. what it was originally intended to be used for, which was cargo and freight inspection logistics)

You need to have some more robust validating and authenticating when we're actually talking about letting undocumented people in vs. what would be needed for a commercial trucking company notify CPB that "hey, a driver will be getting to the Peace Bridge next Tuesday around 2:30 with a truckload of potato chips and cookies"



2) Given that it's a smart phone application, it actually presents a fairness issue by being set at the "primary method of asylum application". Whereby the only people who can use it like an "asylum fast-pass" are the seekers who can afford a smart phone...which obviously doesn't apply to everyone.



In a nutshell, if the app had "undocumented migrant application notification" shoehorned in, and was set up to email people to notify them if their application was rejected and that they needed to leave, there's not much the current administration can do to account for the fact that someone back in 2023 looked up someone else's email address online and put that in the "send notifications about my case to:" box.

Interesting. I was definitely not confident enough to pin this particular shortcoming on the current admin, tho we can see that the capacity to address these sorts of things is currently being diminished.

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

I think Trump's style is kidnap them off the street . Hurry up and send them to El Salvador. While pretending it's a mistake . Then pretends he can't get them back. Then making up stories about how bad that person is. Then ignoring people or law. I doubt an ID can protect you.

 

[loveofourlord]

If only there was some kind of mark that could be permanently installed on true and proper citizens.....

yeah, but then when they become enemies of the state for not bowing to trump how do you revoke?

 

[Pommer]

yeah, but then when they become enemies of the state for not bowing to trump how do you revoke?

They’d be whisked off to some Central America gulag (or other); problem “solved”.

 

[essentialsaltes]

‘The federal government will find you’: Immigration officials wrongfully told a Fox Valley man to leave the U.S.​

Frantz spent much of that Friday debating what to do about the letter. He ultimately decided his best bet would be to reach out to one of his representatives in Congress. On Monday morning, he said he left a voicemail with U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s office and received a phone call less than an hour later.

“After I contacted Sen. Baldwin’s office, they were working [on] it right away,” Frantz said. “I felt like I had an advocate, somebody who really understood my situation and knew the inner workings of government to try to address it.”

Baldwin’s office got in contact with the Department of Homeland Security, and discovered the email was incorrectly sent to Frantz.

Baldwin’s office says it has been in contact with federal immigration officials to ensure the issue was resolved.

In reflecting on the situation, Frantz said he’s lucky because he knew how to find help. He said he expects that more U.S. citizens likely received similar emails by mistake.

“If I’m getting this, and that attorney in Massachusetts also got it, there’s probably a lot of other people who got this,” he said. “We don’t know how many people are on the distribution list.”