Shaheen pushing for answers on email ordering NH Ukrainians to leave country

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen wants answers from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on why the department sent erroneous emails to Ukrainian refugees in the Granite State ordering them to leave the United States “immediately.”

The refugees that New Hampshire families helped relocate here were among those sent the abrupt message from the Trump administration that their parole status was being revoked and that they had to leave.

Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote to demand answers on how the widely distributed email mistake could have occurred.

“I’m extremely concerned by these reports, and my office is taking immediate action to get to the bottom of how this happened. Threatening the abrupt termination of humanitarian parole for Ukrainians — who contribute to our economy and communities — is outrageous, especially given the harms to U.S. national interest and the Trump Administration’s own stated goals,” Shaheen said in a statement.

She was joined in the letter to Noem by Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

The notices went out last Thursday addressed to an unspecified number of Ukrainian refugees to alert them that the DHS was “exercising its discretion to terminate your parole” within seven days of receiving the notice.

“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. Any benefits you receive in the United States connected with your parole — such as work authorization — will also terminate,” the email said. “You will be subjected to potential criminal prosecution, civil fines, and penalties and any other lawful options available to the federal government.”

The notice also said recipients would lose their work permits once their parole status was revoked and encouraged them to sign up for self-deportation using a government smartphone app known as CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) Home that the Trump administration recently recreated.

Just so there was no misunderstanding, the email closed with this stark summation: “Again, DHS is terminating your parole. Do not attempt to remain in the United States — the federal government will find you. Please depart the United States immediately.”

The emails arrived on the same day that a Russian ballistic missile landed near a playground in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown, killing at least 16 people, including six children, despite a partial ceasefire.

Rabbi James Greene with the Family Jewish Service of Western Massachusetts told media outlets that his organization received reports that immigrants in California, Washington state, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Massachusetts received the notice.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Biden administration welcomed roughly 240,000 Ukrainians under a policy known as Uniting for Ukraine, or U4U, that allowed Americans to sponsor Ukrainians displaced by Russia’s invasion.

More than 20,000 Ukrainians who flew to Mexico at the start of the war were also allowed into the U.S. under the parole authority, which allows officials to offer temporary work permits and deportation protections to migrants on humanitarian grounds.

Those who did receive temporary protected parole had this status until at least October 2026.

Shaheen’s staff contacted the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and officials there said they knew nothing about the email but that paroles were not canceled.

That agency sent a subsequent email to Shaheen’s office that read, “Update: a message was sent in error to some Ukrainians under the U4U program. Their parole is not turned off and neither is the U4U parole program.”

Shaheen has been critical of Trump for not giving enough support to Zelensky and too much comfort to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

“It is disappointing that this administration is signaling a lack of support for Ukraine while the Russians are actively seeking an easing of U.S. sanctions,” Shaheen added. “Putin would read this as encouragement to press every advantage.”

Last Friday, DHS officials said a second email was sent to all those who received the first.

It read in part, “You may have received an email notification titled ‘Notice of Termination of Parole.’ The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent this email to you in error. No action will be taken with respect to your parole.”