Ukrainian citizens advised to depart the US due to mistake in Homeland Security email

“It is time for you to leave the United States,” the department wrote on Thursday to some Ukrainians in a “notice of termination of parole,” which was obtained by CNN.

It added that their parole would expire in seven days and issued a warning: “Do not attempt to remain in the United States — the federal government will find you.”

Just a day later, those who received the email were told it was sent “in error”, according to a follow-up communication obtained by CNN. The subsequent notice also said that “no action will be taken” as indicated in the previous message, adding, “the terms of your parole as originally issued remain unchanged at this time”.

DHS confirmed in a statement to CNN that the message sent to some Ukrainians under the parole program was a mistake and that the “parole program has not been terminated”.

There are also no plans to end the program, a spokesperson told CNN.

DHS paused admissions under the program in January, shortly after Trump took office.

But the back-and-forth was enough to frighten a number of the Ukrainians and the Americans who are sponsoring them, according to a source familiar with the situation. The letters prompted a host of questions around whether the Ukrainians who were brought here legally beginning in 2022 would be able to continue living in the United States as long as Russia’s war with Kyiv plays out.

In 2022, then-president Joe Biden announced the “Uniting for Ukraine” program for Ukrainians seeking to come to the US as their country fought against Russia’s invasion.

The program required Ukrainians seeking entry to be sponsored by a US citizen or individual, including resettlement and non-profit organisations.

Through this process, Ukrainian applicants were allowed to travel to the US and be considered for humanitarian parole on a case-by-case basis. If accepted, the individuals were eligible for work authorisation.

Since President Donald Trump took office, the Department of Homeland Security has criticised humanitarian parole, claiming the Biden administration abused it by extending it to multiple nationalities. The Trump administration went on to end the legal status for more than 500,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela in the US under some Biden-era parole programs, and said migrants would be looked at on “a case-by-case basis”.