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
South African National Removed Following Conviction for Assaulting Guard at ICE Facility
Ziyaya Mtola, a South African national, was removed to South Africa on August 20, 2019, following the conclusion of his 24-month federal prison term for assaulting a guard at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia, New York, in May 2017.
EOIR Opening New Immigration Court in New York City
EOIR announced it will be opening a new immigration court on Broadway in New York City on September 9, 2019. Notice includes the new court’s location, contact information, and hours of operation.
DHS and HHS Announce New Rule Terminating the Flores Settlement Agreement
DHS and HHS announced a final rule that amends regulations related to the apprehension, processing, care, custody, and release of undocumented minors and that would terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement.
Trump Administration Eliminates Established Protections for Children and Families
AILA leadership responds to the Trump administration’s announcement that it will reverse the Flores Settlement Agreement, a move that would authorize the indefinite detention of children and families in federal immigration detention facilities.
CA11 Remands Asylum Claim of Mexican Petitioner Targeted by Cartel Due to His Father-in-Law
The court remanded the petitioner’s asylum claims, finding that the Mexican petitioner’s relationship to his father-in-law was one central reason in the Gulf Cartel’s decision to persecute the petitioner, and thus satisfied the nexus requirement. (Perez-Sanchez v. Att’y Gen., 8/21/19)
U.S. Senators Urge Attorney General to Rescind Decision on Matter of L-E-A-
On 8/21/19, twelve senators sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr urging him to rescind his decision in Matter of L-E-A-, which limits access to asylum for people fleeing persecution abroad because of their family ties, citing that his decision disregards decades of legal precedent.
ICE Announced New Expeditious Removal Process for Guatemalans
ICE announced that since mid-July 2019, U.S. and Guatemala have implemented an expeditious removal process for Guatemalan citizens. In FY2019 to date, ICE has removed 49,000 Guatemalans compared to 50,000 in FY2018, and more than 1,500 members of family units, a 50 percent increase from last year.
CA5 Finds Oklahoma Firearm Transportation Conviction Did Not Disqualify Petitioner from Cancellation of Removal
The court held that petitioner's conviction did not disqualify him from cancellation of removal, because the Oklahoma misdemeanor of transporting a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle is not a firearms offense listed in INA §237(a)(2)(C). (Flores-Abarca v. Barr, 8/16/19, withdrawn 8/28/19)
CA8 Says Denial of Unopposed Motion Is Not Presumptively an Abuse of Discretion
The court held that the denial of an unopposed, non-frivolous motion to reopen is not presumptively an abuse of discretion, and that the BIA did not abuse its discretion in ruling on the merits of the petitioner’s motion. (Mwangi v. Barr, 8/19/19)
BIA Terminates Proceedings Following Ninth Circuit Decision in Lorenzo
Unpublished BIA decision terminates proceedings following remand in Lorenzo v. Whitaker (9th Cir. 2019), in light of argument that CA definition of methamphetamine was overbroad because it included geometric isomers. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Atenia Lorenzo, 8/19/19)
Lawsuit Alleges Wrongful Death in Texas County Jail Due to Family Separation Policy
The Texas Civil Rights Project filed a lawsuit against the federal government and Starr County in South Texas over the wrongful death of a father who died at a county jail after he was separated from his child due to the zero-tolerance policy. (Peña Arita v. United States, et al., 8/18/19)
EOIR Releases Policy Memo on Use of Status Dockets in Immigration Court Proceedings
EOIR released a policy memo explicating the use of status dockets for courts that utilize them. Status cases are "cases in which an immigration judge must delay final adjudication of the case pursuant to law." The memo defines three categories of status cases that may be put on a status docket.
EOIR Releases Policy Memo on Allegations of Misconduct by EOIR Adjudicators and Ex Parte Communications
EOIR released a policy memo on ex parte communications, and the limited circumstances in which they may be permissible. The memo also notes that allegations of misconduct raised against EOIR adjudicators by a stakeholder does not constitute an improper ex parte communication.
CA3 Revives Lawsuit of Students Caught in Fake University Visa Sting After Finding Order Terminating Their F-1 Status Was Final Agency Action
The court held that the order terminating the appellants’ F-1 visa status marked the consummation of ICE’s decision-making process, and therefore constituted a final order for the purposes of Administrative Procedure Act (APA) jurisdiction. (Fang, et al. v. Director of ICE, et al., 8/15/19)
AILA: DOJ Seeks Termination of Immigration Judges Union, Further Undermining Court Independence
AILA Executive Director Benjamin Johnson responds to DOJ’s effort to strip immigration judges of their right to be represented by a union.
CA8 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Honduran Woman Whose Father and Brother Were Kidnapped in 2008
The court upheld the BIA’s and IJ’s denial of asylum to the petitioner, whose father and brother had been kidnapped in Honduras in 2008, finding that the petitioner fell short of establishing past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution. (Mejia-Ramos v. Barr, 8/15/19)
CA9 Dismisses Government’s Appeal of June 2017 District Court Order Relating to Enforcement of Flores Settlement Agreement
The court found that the district court’s June 27, 2017, order did not modify the Agreement’s requirement that minors be held in “safe and sanitary” conditions that comport with the “special concern for the particular vulnerability of minors.” (Flores, et al. v. Barr, et al., 8/15/19)
CA9 Defers to BIA’s Ruling That Arizona Felony Conviction for Solicitation to Possess Marijuana for Sale Is a CIMT
The court held that the petitioner was inadmissible under INA §101(a)(13)(C)(v) and INA §212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I), because her felony conviction for solicitation to possess marijuana for sale in Arizona was a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT). (Gonzalez-Romo v. Barr, 8/14/19)
CA8 Finds AAO Did Not Err in Denying Petitioner’s Appeal for Failure to Comply with Agency Deadline
The court held that petitioner, who filed an application for Temporary Resident Status as a Special Agricultural Worker (SAW) in 1988, could not meet his burden to equitably toll the 30-day time limit for his appeal to the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO). (Capiz-Fabian v. Barr, 8/14/19)
EOIR to Open Immigration Court in Sacramento, CA
EOIR announced it will be opening an immigration court in Sacramento, California, on September 3, 2019. Notice includes the court’s location, contact information, and hours of operation.
TRAC Report Shows ICE Secure Communities Removals Declining
A TRAC report shows that the number of Secure Communities deportations has been trending downward during the past year, falling to 6,152 in 4/19, compared to 7,456 in 5/18. The number of removals by community are reflective of individual communities’ policies regarding cooperation with ICE.
CA1 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Guatemalan Petitioner Who Claimed He Was Targeted by Barrio 18 Gang Members
The court held that the BIA did not err in concluding that the petitioner, whose proposed particular social group was “males who have had romantic involvement with the partners of drug dealers,” was ineligible for asylum. (Ramírez-Pérez v. Barr, 8/13/19)
BIA Reverses Denial of Motion to Change Venue from Dallas to New York
Unpublished BIA decision grants interlocutory appeal and reverses denial of motion to change venue given that respondent’s family and pro bono attorney were located in New York. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Vasquez-Molina, 8/13/19)
CA3 Finds BIA Misapplied Modified Categorical Approach to Petitioner’s Pennsylvania Conviction
The court held that the BIA incorrectly applied the modified categorical approach in determining that the Pennsylvania state crime of which petitioner was convicted constituted either an aggravated felony or a conviction relating to a controlled substance. (Hillocks v. Att’y Gen., 8/12/19)
CA3 Says “Particularly Serious Crime” Is Not Limited to Aggravated Felonies in Asylum or Withholding of Removal Context
The court held that, in the asylum and withholding of removal context, aggravated felonies are a subset of particularly serious crimes, and found that petitioner’s Delaware second-degree unlawful imprisonment conviction was a particularly serious crime. (Bastardo-Vale v. Att’y Gen., 8/12/19)