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
CA1 Retroactively Applies Stop-Time Rule to Pre-IIRIRA Order to Show Cause
The court found that because the petitioner arrived in the U.S. in 1986 and his removal proceedings began in 1987, IIRIRA’s 1996 stop-time rule applied retroactively, and he had not accrued the necessary years of physical presence. (Aguirre v. Holder, 8/28/13)
CA9 Holds Petitioner Has Constitutional Right to Testify in Support of Asylum Application
The court granted the petition for review, finding that the IJ prejudiced the petitioner by denying his constitutional right to testify in support of his asylum application and making an adverse credibility finding based principally on the cross-examination. (Oshodi v. Holder, 8/27/13)
BIA Remands After IJ Fails to Advise Respondent of Right to Counsel
Unpublished BIA decision remanding case after finding IJ failed to comply with 8 C.F.R. 1240.11(c)(1)(iii) by not advising respondent of his right to counsel specifically in asylum-related relief nor provide him with a legal services list. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of K-O, 8/27/13)
BIA Grants Joint Motion to Reinstate Voluntary Departure
Unpublished BIA decision where the Board, on remand from the Seventh Circuit’s decision in Akram v. Holder, granted a joint motion to reinstate voluntary departure and terminate proceedings. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Akram, 8/27/13)
BIA Reopens Proceedings Over DHS Objection and Remands for Further Review
Unpublished BIA decision where the Board reopened proceedings sua sponte over DHS objection and remanded the record to the Immigration Court for further proceedings regarding the respondent’s removability and the status of his conviction. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Lall, 8/27/13)
BIA Grants Interlocutory Appeal After DHS Supports Motion to Change Venue
Unpublished BIA decision where the Board granted an interlocutory appeal of a denial of the respondent’s motion to change venue after DHS filed a brief in support of the motion. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Del Cid-Melara, 8/26/13)
BIA Remands After Pro Bono Organization Letter Was Undeliverable
Unpublished BIA decision remanding case after finding that the IJ should have granted a further continuance for respondent to obtain counsel after noting that a letter sent to a pro bono organization was returned as undeliverable. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Perez-Baez, 8/26/13)
CA3 Says DHS Must Show Conviction Involved Federally Controlled Substance
The court granted the petition for review and remanded, concluding that in a removal proceeding under INA §237(a)(2)(B)(i), DHS must show that the foreign national’s conviction involved or was related to a federally controlled substance. (Rojas v. Att’y Gen., 8/23/13)
BIA Remands Because IJ Did Not Question Respondent After He Expressed Fear
Unpublished BIA decision remanding the case "in an abundance of caution" because the IJ did not further question him after he expressed a fear of returning to Mexico. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Guzman-Rodriguez, 8/23/13)
BIA Remands For IJ to Issue Full Decision on TPS Application
Unpublished BIA decision remanding decision because IJ did not prepare a separate oral or written decision on the TPS denial and requesting that the IJ review whether the late-filed TPS application should be adjudicated on its merits. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Hernandez, 8/23/13)
ICE Memo with Policies and Procedures Addressing Alien Parents and Legal Guardians of Minor Children
ICE 8/23/13 memo from John Sandweg, Acting Director of ICE, titled “Facilitating Parental Interests in the Course of Civil Immigration Enforcement Activities,” with ICE procedures addressing the placement, monitoring, accommodation, and removal of alien parents or legal guardians of minor children.
CA9 Grants Asylum Based on Past Persecution of Seventh Day Adventists in Belarus
The court granted asylum, finding that the petitioner established a claim of past persecution based on the abuses endured by her Seventh Day Adventist parents while she was a child in Belarus, and remanded the withholding and CAT claims for further consideration. (Rusak v. Holder, 8/22/13)
BIA Remands for IJ to Determine if Respondent Was Derivative Beneficiary of 245(i) Labor Certification
Unpublished BIA decision sustaining the appeal, finding that the respondent's 245(i) AOS was denied based on erroneous determination that he submitted no evidence that his father was the same person as the labor certification beneficiary. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Pandya, 8/22/13)
CA9 Finds California Conviction of Brandishing a Firearm Is Aggravated Felony
The court dismissed the petition for review, finding the petitioner ineligible for cancelation, because the conviction under California Penal Code §417.3 counted categorically as a “crime of violence,” and therefore as an aggravated felony. (Bolanos v. Holder, 8/21/13)
CA3 Finds No Jurisdiction to Review Denial of Continuance and Denies Cancellation
The court found no jurisdiction to review the BIA’s denial of a continuance and rejected Petitioner's argument that his 2006 criminal conduct did not stop the accrual of continuous residence because §212(h) could have waived inadmissibility. (Rachak v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 8/21/13)
CA1 Denies Cancellation to C-1/D Visa Holder
The court found that the petitioner, who was issued a C-1/D visa and admitted under a C-1 classification, was properly classified as an alien crewman even though he never worked as a crewman, and thus was ineligible for cancellation of removal. (Guerrero v. Holder, 8/21/13)
CA7 Remands Withholding Claim to BIA for HIV Positive Gay Man from Mexico
The court granted the petition for review and remanded to the BIA to determine whether the IJ clearly erred in finding that the petitioner—who is an openly gay HIV positive man— is more likely than not to be persecuted if returned to Mexico. (Rosiles-Camarena v. Holder, 8/21/13)
BIA Remands Due to Evolving Legal Standards Surrounding Aggravated Felony Definition
Unpublished BIA decision where the Board remanded due to the evolving legal standard of whether his conviction constitutes an aggravated felony under 18 U.S.C. section 16(b) and the intervening decision in Descamps v. U.S. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Gonzalez-Leyton, 8/21/13)
CA7 Holds Aggravated Felony Definition Does Not Apply to Pre-1988 Convictions
The court granted the petition for review, holding that the Petitioner’s aggravated felony convictions cannot be used as a ground for removal because they were more than a decade old when the aggravated felony definition in INA §101(a)(43) took effect in 1988. (Zivkovic v. Holder, 7/31/13)
CA7 Holds §212(h) Waiver Available to Petitioner Who Adjusted to LPR Status in the U.S.
The court joined four other circuits in holding that §212(h) precludes a waiver only for those persons who were LPRs at the time they lawfully entered the U.S., but ultimately upheld the BIA’s denial of the waiver as a matter of discretion. (Papazoglou v. Holder, 8/6/13)
CA9 on Modified Categorical Approach
Applying the modified categorical approach, the court denied the petition for review, determining that the petitioner was charged as a principal and not as an accessory after the fact under California Vehicle Code § 10851(a). (Duenas-Alvarez v. Holder, 8/20/13)
Amicus Alert: Ninth Circuit Grants Petition for Review of Reinstated Order of Removal
AILA Amicus Committee alert on Villa-Anguiano v. Holder, providing a summary of the case and takeaway points for practitioners.
BIA Found Respondent Abandoned LPR By Being Continuously Outside the U.S.
Unpublished BIA decision where the Board dismissed the appeal and found that the respondent abandoned his lawful permanent resident (LPR) status and denied his application for a waiver of inadmissibility under INA 211(b). Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Garcia Guzman, 8/20/13)
CA3 Overrules Nugent; Holds Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud Is an Aggravated Felony
The court affirmed the lower court’s decision denying Appellant's application for naturalization because his conviction for conspiracy to commit wire fraud was as an aggravated felony. (Al-Sharif v. USCIS, 8/19/13)
BIA Holds Violation Under 18 USC §1001(a)(2) for Knowingly Making a False Statement is CIMT
The Board held that a noncitizen who enters the U.S. by falsely claiming U.S. citizenship is not deemed to have been admitted under §101(a)(13)(A), and making a false statement to obtain a passport in violation of 18 USC §1001(a)(2) is a CIMT. Matter of Pinzon, 26 I&N Dec. 189 (BIA 2013)