CBP ONE App Parole Termination
On April 8, news media sources reported that the Trump Administration had sent notices terminating parole to individuals who had been paroled into the country after presenting themselves at the border to seek asylum under the process made available through the CBP One app. While there is no confirmation that these termination notices were sent to all, reports on the grounds here in Massachusetts indicate that these notices were widespread. Overall, this termination could impact more than 900,000 people who have been paroled into the country for purposes of applying for asylum since 2023.
Notices informed individuals that they were required to “immediately” leave the country. However, many of the individuals who were paroled through CBP One have since received protection through Temporary Protected Status (TPS), or have active immigration court proceedings or pending asylum applications. Individuals with TPS are protected from deportation, and those in deportation proceedings or with a pending asylum application are generally permitted to remain in the US until a final decision is made.
The potential implications of parole revocation for nearly a million people across the country – including thousands right here in Massachusetts – are enormous both for the individuals themselves and for the communities where they live and work. Individuals and families are being left suddenly without lawful status or work authorization, despite having followed lawful procedures to enter the country. The administration’s termination of parole is being challenged in the courts in ongoing litigation.
IRS Sharing Data With Department of Homeland Security
Also this week, court filings revealed that immigration authorities had entered into a final agreement with the IRS regarding data sharing practices that would allow DHS to request address information for certain individuals. Only a redacted version of the agreement has been made public, and it appears to be limited to individuals who have been ordered deported within the previous 90 days and who are subjects of criminal investigations. The agreement also requires a further implementation agreement, and the federal government confirmed that no data had been shared as of earlier this week. A lawsuit has been filed in federal court in Washington, DC, seeking to prevent the IRS from engaging in the unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer information for purposes of immigration enforcement.
The impact of both of these policy shifts is not only devastating for hundreds of thousands of individuals and families, but also stands to have an enormous impact on our workforce and economy. Immigrants of all statuses contribute significantly to our workforce in Massachusetts, where one in five workers is foreign born. Immigrants also contributed by paying taxes. In 2023, immigrants in Massachusetts paid a total of $20.4 billion in taxes, with $6.6 billion spent on state and local taxes. This includes $1.4B in taxes paid by undocumented households, who often file tax returns utilizing tax identification numbers (ITINs) issued by the IRS for this purpose.The loss of work authorization and the possibility of data sharing between the IRS and immigration enforcement agencies are sure to have substantial and lasting impacts on our communities in Massachusetts.
In further updates:
- The administration’s registration rule is scheduled to take effect tomorrow, April 11, unless a court intervenes. The rule would require all noncitizens, including children, present in the US for more than 30 days to provide personal information to the Department of Homeland Security and be fingerprinted. Though many noncitizens would already be considered registered, others would have to face the choice between providing their information to immigration and risking deportation, or failing to comply with the registration requirement and facing potential criminal prosecution. MIRA is submitting comments to oppose the registration rule, and a lawsuit was also filed last week challenging the rule.