Tom Frantz, a 68-year-old retired college administrator and American citizen from Neenah, Wisconsin, received a pair of identical emails last Friday that claimed to be from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Initially dismissing them as spam, Frantz’s concern grew once he read the emails more closely.
The alarming correspondence stated that Frantz was in the United States on humanitarian parole and that his parole was being terminated.
The email warned him, “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.”
It went on to threaten, “Do not attempt to remain in the United States — the federal government will find you. Please depart the United States immediately.”
Frantz, who has never participated in or applied for humanitarian parole, was stunned.
He has lived in the Fox Valley since moving there in 1981 for a job at what is now the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh at Fox Cities.
The threatening nature of the email along with the ambiguity about what to do next led Frantz to conduct further research.
He discovered that an immigration attorney in Massachusetts had also received a similar letter from immigration officials.
“I thought, ‘Boy, if an immigration attorney is alarmed about this, then I should be, too, and I should pay attention to what is being said here,’” Frantz recounted.
The email filled him with anxiety about the possibility of immigration officials arriving at his home to arrest him.
He was particularly concerned about the mention of losing benefits, given his years of contributions to Social Security and Medicare.
“I was not naive enough to believe that the government never makes a mistake,” he said.
Frantz spent the better part of that Friday contemplating his next steps.
Eventually, he settled on reaching out to one of his congressional representatives.
On Monday morning, he left a voicemail for U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin’s office and received a callback within the hour.
“After I contacted Sen. Baldwin’s office, they were working [on] it right away,” Frantz said.
He felt reassured to have an advocate who understood his situation and was knowledgeable about government procedures.
Baldwin’s office reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and confirmed that the email had been mistakenly sent to Frantz.
The erroneous notice had been dispatched to email addresses linked to the Customs and Border Patrol Home App.
Typically, these emails are sent to individuals applying for parole or asylum, along with immigration lawyers, non-governmental organizations, and financial supporters of applicants.
Frantz did not use the app and does not fit the profile of those categories.
He remains uncertain why the email was directed to him and is thankful that Baldwin’s office intervened.
While he noted that the Department of Homeland Security did not reach out to him directly, they did convey an apology through Baldwin’s office.
Frantz sensed that officials were working to understand what went wrong and rectify the mistake.
Had Baldwin’s office not responded to his concerns, Frantz indicated he would have sought help from U.S. Senator Ron Johnson’s office and the office of Representative Glenn Grothman.
“Had none of them responded … I probably would start carrying around different forms of identification, birth certificate and other stuff, to prove citizenship,” he mentioned.
As of now, neither the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, nor Customs and Border Protection have provided comments regarding Frantz’s situation or the mistaken email notification.
In a statement, Baldwin condemned the Trump administration’s handling of the situation, which could have led to the wrongful detention or deportation of a U.S. citizen.
“This is completely illegal — President Trump is trying to deport an American-born, law-abiding citizen and has provided absolutely no justification,” Baldwin said.
“The President cannot kick Americans out of the country just because he wants — no one is above the law, including the President.”
Reflecting on his experience, Frantz considers himself fortunate for knowing where to seek help.
He expressed concerns 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.
Frantz emphasized, “We don’t know how many people are on the distribution list.”
“I think it’s important that people stay vigilant and that they take emails seriously.
Don’t click on the links, but investigate them,” he advised.
“If it looks legitimate, I would definitely treat it as legitimate, and I would seek assistance from officials.”
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