Thousands of people living and working in New York state now face deportation after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday revoked legal status of migrants who were allowed to come to the U.S. using the CBP One app.

“Individuals who came to the United States through the CBP One app, who were paroled into the country, they are now canceling their status as well,” said Murad Awawdeh, CEO and president of the New York Immigration Coalition. “What this is doing is creating a larger class of people who are undocumented in this country and then would put a target on their back for immigration enforcement.”  

Federal authorities confirmed termination notices were sent to CBP One beneficiaries but did not say how many.

“Canceling these paroles is a promise kept to the American people to secure our borders and protect national security,” the DHS media affairs unit said in response to questions sent by the Associated Press. 

Since January 2023, more than 900,000 people were allowed into the U.S. using this online application process through the CBP One app. They were allowed to work and remain in the U.S. for two years. Many of them came to New York, Awawdeh said.  

“That’s thousands of people who have called New York home for years now, thousands of people who are employed and are probably going to lose their job now because they fell out of status,” he said.  

Families and children came to the U.S. using the app, too, Awawdeh said.  

“The CBP One app was a part of a process to get into the United States through a legal pathway, and individuals did that, similarly to Cuban, Nicaraguan, Venezuelan and Haitian parole program that the Trump administration also cancelled. Many of these people came into the country with status. They are not undocumented and now they are becoming undocumented,” he said.  

In March, the DHS announced the CBP Home app with a self-deportation reporting feature for individuals in the U.S. lacking legal status.

“The CBP Home app gives aliens the option to leave now and self-deport, so they may still have the opportunity to return legally in the future and live the American dream. If they don’t, we will find them, we will deport them, and they will never return,” said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in a statement on March 10. 

Immigrants make up 23.1% of New York’s population, and 27.8% of the labor force, according to data from the American Immigration Council. The data says there are about 56,8000 Temporary Protected Status Holders in New York that contributed $305.5 million in state and local taxes, and $348.9 million in federal taxes in 2023. Undocumented workers in New York contributed $6.7 billion in taxes in 2023.

“In New York, they are working across all sectors and making the state move forward,” Awawdeh said.