By Civitas
Special to the AFRO
“It is time for you to leave the United States.” — Department of Homeland Security mass email, April 2025
This is not a warning from the past. It’s not a quote from 1942. It’s not fiction.
It’s the opening line of a message received by thousands of immigrants this weekend, sent directly by the Department of Homeland Security under the Trump administration’s escalating crackdown. The email was blunt, cold and unmistakably threatening:
“Unless it expires sooner, your parole will terminate 7 days from the date of this 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.”
These emails, citing 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5)(A) and 8 C.F.R. § 212.5(e), part of the Immigration and Nationality Act, were delivered en masse to migrants across the country—many of them lawfully paroled, some still awaiting asylum decisions, others with no clear recourse.
On April 19, the Supreme Court issued an emergency ruling temporarily blocking these removals, halting enforcement while the justices considered the legality of using the Alien Enemies Act—a 226-year-old wartime law—to deport migrants en masse.
But the court’s move, while significant, is only one piece of a much larger—and more dangerous—campaign.
The bigger picture: militarization, deportation and delay as strategy
The deportation email blitz wasn’t a bureaucratic mistake. It was a strategic test—a pressure tactic designed to instill fear, provoke self-deportation, and trigger legal ambiguity. It came just days before another deadline: the expected release of a joint report from the Departments of Homeland Security and Defense, evaluating whether to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807.
That report, required by Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order, was originally due on April 20. Now, according to CNN, its release has been delayed until next week, as internal disagreements and public backlash mount.
But while that report stalls in Washington, the deportation machinery has already been activated.
The People Behind the Report
The report will be authored by two of Trump’s most loyal and ideologically extreme cabinet officials:
- Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem
- Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth
Kristi Noem
Earlier this year, Noem traveled to El Salvador to film a political ad in front of Tecoluca, one of the most notorious prison complexes in the world, where tens of thousands of men are held without trial or legal counsel. Human rights organizations have condemned the prison as a symbol of state violence and authoritarian overreach.
Noem didn’t go to condemn the practice. She went to praise it.
Pete Hegseth
A former Fox News personality with no federal command experience, Hegseth has repeatedly advocated for using the U.S. military to enforce order domestically—particularly in cities with large Black and Brown populations. His appointment as Secretary of Defense was not about leadership, but loyalty.
With Noem and Hegseth driving the analysis, there is little reason to expect restraint.
The Insurrection Act and the Architecture of Force
The Insurrection Act, first passed in 1807, allows a president to deploy active-duty military forces on U.S. soil without state consent. It was originally intended for rare emergencies. Its use in 2025 would represent a radical departure from democratic norms.
These delays allow the administration to maintain psychological pressure while avoiding immediate legal defeat. It’s a cooling strategy—not de-escalation.
While the courts process appeals and the public waits for answers, the Trump administration is already deploying executive authority in shadow form—via digital notices, bureaucratic weaponization, and headline-choking tactics.
Who Is Being Targeted?
If the military is deployed or removals resume, they will not be felt in gated communities or luxury towers.
They will be felt in:
- Brownsville and El Paso, Texas
- South Los Angeles and the Central Valley
- Jackson, Miss. and Detroit, Mich.
- The Bronx, N.Y. and East Oakland, Calif.
Black, Brown, immigrant, Indigenous, and low-income communities are the intended targets—not only of immigration raids but of the larger political narrative: disorder must be controlled. Outsiders must be removed. Dissent must be crushed.
Voices of Alarm
Progressive columnist Jason Sattler wrote in an April 20 USA Today op-ed: “Deploying troops domestically to counter a migrant ‘invasion’ is not just legally dubious—it would be historically unprecedented.”
The alarm is not ideological. It’s structural. Even conservative legal scholars have expressed concern that Trump’s team is testing the Constitution’s weak points—to see which ones snap without resistance.
What Must Be Done Now
The delay in troop deployment and the Supreme Court’s pause on deportations are temporary wins—not long-term protections. We must act now:
Legislative
- Congress must reform the Insurrection Act and Alien Enemies Act with judicial review and sunset clauses.
Legal
- Expand rapid legal response networks to defend migrants receiving DHS removal notices.
Local
- Governors, attorneys general, and mayors must pledge non-cooperation with unlawful federal military or deportation orders.
Grassroots
- Know-your-rights campaigns, safe community hubs, and watch networks must be expanded.
Final word: “Leave now” was not just a sentence—it was a strategy
The email began with, “It is time for you to leave the United States.”
But let us say this clearly: It is not time for any of us to leave. It is time for all of us to stand.
For our neighbors. For our democracy. For the very idea of citizenship as a right—not a privilege to be revoked by executive fiat.
Drawing inspiration from the original authors of the Federalist papers’ use of “Publius” (referring to Publius Valerius Publicola, a founder of the Roman Republic), we use “Civitas” as our pseudonym.“Civitas” is Latin for “citizenship” or “community of citizens,” emphasizing both the rights and responsibilities of citizens in maintaining a constitutional republic. This pseudonym reflects our focus on civic engagement and the collective effort required to preserve democratic institutions in the face of current challenges.