'Language seemed threatening': US doctor says received email from DHS asking her to leave country 'immediately'

A doctor from Connecticut, an American citizen born in the United States, has claimed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent her an email asking her to "leave the country immediately."

"The message said, 'It's time for you to leave the United States.' The language seemed pretty threatening to whomever it might actually apply to," Lisa Anderson, a physician from Cromwell, Connecticut, told NBC Connecticut on Wednesday.

Anderson, 58, was born in Pennsylvania. The email to her comes days after another US citizen, immigration attorney Nicole Micheroni from Boston, Massachusetts, received the same message from DHS.

Micheroni said though she was told to leave the country within seven days, federal authorities were yet to follow up.

Pointing to the Boston episode, Anderson stated she does not "have anything to do with immigration." The physician, who has been carrying her US passport at all times since receiving the email, is seeking an immigration lawyer.

“It does concern me there’re a lot more people out there like me who probably also thought this was spam, who probably didn’t realize, ‘I have a problem,’” she remarked.

Department of Homeland Security response

A senior DHS official told NBC News the department has been sending notices to individuals who do not have "lawful status to continue to live in America."

"If a non-personal email — such as an American citizen contact — was provided by the alien, notices may have been sent to unintended recipients. CBP (Customs and Border Protection) is monitoring communications and will address any issues on a case-by-case basis," the official said.

He asserted that for such individuals, being in the United States is a "privilege and not a right."