Featured Issue: Representing Clients Before ICE
This resource page combines resources for attorneys representing clients before ICE. For information about why AILA is calling for the reduction and phasing out of immigration detention, please see our Featured Issue Page: Immigration Detention and Alternatives to Detention.
Quick Links
- Seeking Stays of Removal
- AILA Practice Pointers and Alerts (continually updated)
- Practice Advisory: Representing Detained Clients in the Virtual Landscape
- Practice Pointer: How to Locate Clients Apprehended by ICE
- Practice Pointer: Preparing for an Order of Supervision Appointment with ICE-ERO
- AILA ICE Liaison Agenda and Meeting Minutes
Communicating with OPLA, ERO, and CROs
The Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) includes 1300 attorneys who represent the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in immigration removal proceedings before the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). OPLA litigates all removal cases as well as provides legal counsel to ICE personnel. At present, there are 25 field locations throughout the United States.
Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) manages all aspects of immigration enforcement from arrest, detention, and removal. ERO has 24 field office locations. ERO also manages an “alternative to detention” program that relies almost exclusively on the “Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP)” to monitor individuals in removal proceedings.
Since 2016, ICE has had an Office of Partnership and Engagement (formerly Office of Community Engagement) to be a link between the agency and stakeholders. As part of this office, Community Relations Officers (CROS) are assigned to every field office to work with local stakeholders such as attorneys and nonprofit organizations.
*Headquarters does not provide direct contact numbers or emails for individual employees.* (AILA Liaison Meeting with ICE on April 26, 2023)(AILA Doc. No. 23033004). However, attorneys can contact Chapter Local ICE Liaisons as they may have this information provided to them via local liaison engagement.
- DHS/ICE/OPLA Chief Counsel Contact Information [last updated in 2024, this list no longer appears on ICE.gov as of 1/27/25]
- Contact Information for Local OPLA Offices [last updated in 2024, this information no longer appears on ICE.gov as of 1/27/25]
- ERO Field Offices Contact Information*
- OPE Community Relations Officers
- ICE Check-In Scheduling Website
- ICE Online Change of Address Website
Latest on Enforcement Priorities & Prosecutorial Discretion
Executive Order 14159 (90 FR 8443, 1/29/25) directs DHS to set priorities that protect the public safety and national security interests of the American people, including by ensuring the successful enforcement of final orders of removal, enforcement of the INA and other Federal laws related to the illegal entry and unlawful presence of [noncitizens] in the United States and the enforcement of the purposes of this order. Given the January 25, 2025, confirmation of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, a memorandum detailing enforcement priorities may be issued in the coming weeks.
An unpublished ICE memo from acting ICE Director Caleb Vitello entitled “Interim Guidance: Civil Immigration Enforcement Actions in or near Courthouses” makes reference to targeted noncitizens and includes:
- National security or public safety threats;
- Those with criminal convictions;
- Gang members;
- Those who have been ordered removed from the United States but have failed to depart; and/or
- Those who have re-entered the country illegally after being removed.
Procedures and email inboxes created under the Biden Administration to request Prosecutorial Discretion no longer appear on the ICE website. AILA members are encouraged to review current DOJ regulations entitled “Efficient Case and Docket Management in Immigration Proceedings” for alternative basis for seeking termination or administrative closure.
Access to Counsel
- ERO eFile:
- An online system developed to electronically file G-28s with ERO. Attorneys and accredited representatives may register for ERO eFile accounts and may also sponsor law students and law graduates who work under their supervision. See AILA’s practice alert (AILA Doc. No. 24051506) for more information.
- ICE Attorney Information and Resources Page
- AILA Practice Alert: Updates to the ICE Attorney Information and Resource Page
Filing Administrative Complaints on Behalf of Detained and Formerly Detained Clients
- Online Intake Form for the Detention Ombudsman (myOIDO)
- Available for complaints for issues in ICE and CBP Custody nationwide, including to submit complaints about access to counsel problems on behalf of currently or previously detained clients.
- Online Complaint Form for DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL)
- Oversight of Immigration Detention: An Overview - May 16, 2022
(provides a list of agencies with which attorneys may file administrative complaints of detention center violations) - Immigration Judge Complaint Toolkit – August 31, 2022
- Practice Alert: Template for CRCL Complaint Regarding Failures to Provide Language Access – July 16, 2021
Selected ICE Policies and Current Status
For comprehensive comparison of current and prior ICE policies, please review the “Immigration Policy Tracker (IPTP).” The IPTP is a project of Professor Lucas Guttentag working with teams of Stanford and Yale law students and leading national immigration experts.
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Browse the Featured Issue: Representing Clients Before ICE collection
CA5 Finds Petitioner’s Texas Drug Delivery Conviction Rendered Him Removable
The court held that the petitioner’s Texas conviction for possession of meth with intent to deliver was an offense “relating to a controlled substance” as defined in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), thus rendering him removable under INA §212(a)(2)(A)(i)(II). (Padilla v. Barr, 9/12/19)
DHS Acting Secretary Issues Letter on Protecting DHS Law Enforcement Partners
In a letter, DHS Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan noted that individuals who pursue violent resistance against ICE will be arrested and referred to DOJ for prosecution. McAleenan noted that he has asked the Federal Protective Service to present a detailed plan for securing ICE facilities nationwide.
Sign-On Letter to Members of Congress on FY2020 DHS Spending Bill
On 9/12/19, AILA and other organizations signed on to a letter urging cuts to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s budget for detention, enforcement, and border militarization and to terminate DHS’s authority to transfer and reprogram funds.
BIA Remands to Consider Whether Permanent Bar Applies to Respondent Who Was Removed Unlawfully
Unpublished BIA decision remands for further consideration of whether respondent is inadmissible under INA 212(a)(9)(C)(i) in light of testimony that he was removed without a hearing before an IJ before he illegally reentered. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Valdivia-Muro, 9/12/19)
BIA Holds New Jersey Burglary Statutes Are Not CIMTs
Unpublished BIA decision holds that second and third degree burglary under N.J. Stat. Ann. 2C:18-2 are not CIMTs because statute does not require entry into a dwelling and intent to commit a CIMT offense. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Dargbeh, 9/11/19)
EOIR Provides AILA with Information on New Port Courts
EOIR provided AILA with responses to some of AILA’s questions on the operations at the new port courts in Laredo and Brownsville, Texas.
AILA Statement for House Hearing on Medical Deferred Action for Critically Ill Children
AILA submitted a statement to the House Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties for the September 11, 2019, hearing on the administration’s apparent revocation of medical deferred action for critically ill children.
CA2 Says INA’s “Changed Circumstances” Exception Allows Applicant to Raise Multiple Claims in Asylum Application
The court held that the plain language of INA §208(a)(2)(D) compels the conclusion that the “changed circumstances” exception to the one‐year deadline for filing an asylum application refers to the entire application, rather than the individual claim. (Yang v. Barr, 7/2/19, amended 9/11/19)
CA7 Says INA §242(a)(2)(A)’s Jurisdictional Bar Applied Where Petitioner Had Withdrawn Application for Admission
The court affirmed dismissal of the case for lack of jurisdiction under INA §242(a)(2)(A), finding that the jurisdictional bar still applied because an “order of removal” refers to both an order to remove and an order that a noncitizen is removable. (Odei, et al. v. DHS, et al., 9/10/19)
CA5 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Honduran Woman Who Claimed She Was Unable to Leave Her Relationship
The court held that substantial evidence supported BIA’s finding that petitioner had failed to show that she was harmed by her ex-boyfriend on account of her membership in the particular social group of Honduran women unable to leave their relationships. (Gonzales-Veliz v. Barr, 9/10/19)
IJ Finds Respondent’s Conviction for Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree in New York Is Not a CIMT
The IJ found that the respondent’s conviction for grand larceny in the fourth degree in violation of New York law was not a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT) pursuant to the Second Circuit’s decision in Obeya v. Sessions. Courtesy of Alexander Segal. (Matter of K-R-, 9/10/19)
BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Due To Faulty NTA and Service Thereof
Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order because NTA did not contain warnings about addresses changes and the hearing notice was served on an attorney who previously withdrew from the case. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Flores-Martinez, 9/10/19)
CA1 Finds NTA’s Failure to Include Time and Date of Removal Hearing Was Not a Jurisdictional Flaw
The court held that the Supreme Court’s decision in Pereira v. Sessions did not invalidate the petitioner’s Notice to Appear (NTA), even though the NTA failed to include the date and time of the petitioner’s removal hearing. (Goncalves Pontes v. Barr, 9/6/19)
EOIR Releases ECAS Handbooks and Manuals
Hoppock Law Firm obtained via FOIA the handbooks and manuals that identify how the EOIR Courts & Appeals System (ECAS) initiative and database work.
Groups File Lawsuit Challenging Legitimacy of Acting USCIS Director to Issue Several Asylum Directives
Several groups filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Trump administration to challenge a set of asylum directives issued by Acting USCIS Director Ken Cuccinelli, alleging that the directives violate the U.S. Constitution and federal law. (L.M.-M., et al. v. Cuccinelli, et al., 9/6/19)
Immigration Legal Services Provider Files Lawsuit Challenging Government’s Termination of Deferred Action Program
The Irish International Immigrant Center filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the Trump administration’s 8/19 termination of USCIS field offices’ authority to grant deferred action in non-military cases. (Irish International Immigrant Center, Inc. v. Cuccinelli, et al., 9/5/19)
CA3 Finds IJ and BIA Misapplied Framework for Making Particularly Serious Crime Determinations
The court granted the petition for review, holding that the IJ and BIA erred in finding that the petitioner’s conviction for conspiracy to commit wire fraud was a conviction for a particularly serious crime rendering him ineligible for withholding of removal. (Luziga v. Att’y Gen., 9/5/19)
District Court Grants Preliminary Injunction Requiring ICE to Consider Asylum Seekers for Parole
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, requiring DHS and the ICE New Orleans Field Office to immediately restore the procedures of parole and access to parole. (Heredia Mons, et al. v. McAleenan, et al., 9/5/19)
CA3 Finds Petitioner Became a U.S. Citizen Through His Father’s Naturalization Under Former INA §321(a)(2)
Granting the petition for review, the court held that, under the now repealed INA §321(a)(2), a child born outside of the United States to noncitizen parents became a citizen upon the naturalization of his or her surviving parent if one parent was deceased. (Tineo v. Att’y Gen., 9/4/19)
CA9 Holds BIA Erred in Finding Derivative Beneficiary Lacked Standing to Challenge Her Father’s I-829 Denial
The court granted in part the petition for review, finding that the BIA erred in finding that the petitioner lacked standing, as a derivative beneficiary of a noncitizen entrepreneur in the EB-5 program, to challenge her father’s I-829 denial. (Mu v. Barr, 9/4/19)
ICE ERO Removes 120 Cuban Nationals to Havana, Cuba
ICE ERO removed 120 Cuban nationals on an ICE Air Operations (IAO) charter mission to Havana, Cuba, on August 30, 2019. The removal was conducted in accordance with the Joint Statement signed by the U.S. and Cuban governments in January, 2017.
Over 150 Organizations Call for USCIS to Fully Restore Deferred Action Adjudications
On September 4, 2019, over 150 organizations, including AILA, sent a letter to USCIS Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli calling for the agency to fully restore its acceptance and adjudication of deferred action requests.
Deprivation of Medical Care to Children in CBP Custody
The American Immigration Council, AILA, and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network filed a complaint with DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, DHS Office of the Inspector General, and the FBI highlighting a systematic failure to provide adequate medical care to children in CBP custody.
Practice Alert: Denials and Refusals to Adjudicate Military Parole in Place Applications
AILA's USCIS HQ Committee has received reports of high rates of denials and processing delays for military parole in place applications at some USCIS field offices. The committee is also requesting examples, through a survey on this page, of impacted applications to further its advocacy efforts.
Complaint Demands Oversight of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Facilities
Katie Shepherd, National Advocacy Counsel with the Immigration Justice Campaign, responds to the government’s systematic failure to provide adequate medical care to children in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody.