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.
| Pre Jan 20, 2025 Status | Current Status |
|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Browse the Featured Issue: Representing Clients Before ICE collection
AILA Urges Supreme Court to Revise Nken v. Holder Opinion
Letter from AILA to the Supreme Court, requesting that the Court remove the portions of its opinion in Nken v. Holder that rely on inaccurate representations from DHS on its policies for facilitating the return of removed noncitizens who prevail on judicial review.
AILA Comments on ACUS Immigration Removal Adjudications Report
AILA comments on the Administrative Conference of the United States’ draft report and recommendations on potential improvements to immigration removal adjudication in EOIR.
CA9 Applies Collateral Estoppel in Nigerian CAT Claim
The court held that collateral estoppel bound the BIA to the findings that led to the petitioner’s first grant of CAT deferral, and concluded that the BIA erred in denying a motion to reopen to introduce new evidence. (Oyeniran v. Holder, 3/6/12; amended 5/3/12)
BIA Finds Respondent with Aggravated Felony Conviction Eligible for 212(h) Relief
The BIA held that the respondent - who entered without inspection and later adjusted to LPR status – was eligible for 212(h) relief despite an aggravated felony conviction due to controlling Fifth Circuit precedent. Matter of Rodriguez, 25 I&N Dec. 784 (BIA 2012)
CA8 on 212(h) Waiver Eligibility
The court upheld the BIA’s conclusion that the petitioner was ineligible for a 212(h) waiver because his conviction for possession of drug paraphernalia in a vehicle is not “a single offense of simple possession of … marijuana.” (Popescu-Mateffy v. Holder, 5/2/12)
CA1 Finds NTA Was Not Withdrawn, Triggered Stop-Time Rule
The court found that the petitioner was not eligible for cancellation of removal because the NTA - issued 5 days before he would have accrued the required physical presence – was amended but not withdrawn, and triggered the stop-time rule. (Cheung v. Holder, 5/2/12)
CA6 Upholds Denial of Hardship Waiver Under INA §216(c)(4)(B)
The court found that there was substantial evidence supporting the Board’s decision to deny a hardship waiver under INA §216(c)(4)(B). (Johns v. Holder, 5/2/12)
Michigan Court of Appeals on Driving With Foreign License
The court found that the undocumented defendant did not violate MCL 257.904(4), because he was driving with an expired Mexican license, and noted there is “no basis … to hold that immigration status” is relevant to the statute. (People v. Acosta Baustista, 5/1/12)
Practice Alert: Update on the Return of Removed Noncitizens Following Successful Litigation
AILA ICE Liaison Committee practice alert, providing updated information from the 4/26/12 AILA ICE liaison meeting related to recent guidance from DHS and DOS on facilitating the return of removed noncitizens who prevail on judicial review.
Prisoners of Profit: Immigrants and Detention in Georgia
The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia documented and evaluated detention conditions for immigrant detainees in Georgia per ICE standards, constitutional standards for detention under the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court decisions, and international human rights standards for detainees.
VOICE: May/June 2012
This latest edition is packed with great practice tips, such as why collaborating with a psychologist could benefit your client, how the “government error” queue might boost your PERM case, and more invaluable expert advice.
DOJ OIL April 2012 Litigation Bulletin
The DOJ Office of Immigration Litigation (OIL) April 2012 Litigation Bulletin where Eleventh Circuit held that asylum confidentiality provision was not violated by disclosure of name to hospital administrator and other issues related to adjustment of status and asylum decisions.
Immigration Law Advisor, April 2012 (Vol. 6, No. 4)
Immigration Law Advisor, a legal publication from EOIR, with an article on circuit court modifications to the modified categorical approach, as well as circuit court decisions for March 2012, recent BIA precedent decisions, and a regulatory update.
CA6 Declines to Transfer Venue, Remands on Firm Resettlement Finding
The court rejected the government’s motion to transfer the asylum case to the Fourth Circuit, and remanded to the BIA to reevaluate the IJ’s firmly resettled finding. (Thiam v. Holder, 4/30/12)
ICE Statistics on Prosecutorial Discretion
ICE statistics on prosecutorial discretion (PD) provided to AILA, including the number of cases reviewed, number of cases identified for a grant of PD, number of cases granted deferred action and stays of removal, and more.
ICE FAQs on Facilitating the Return of Certain Removed Aliens
ICE Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about ICE Policy Directive Number 11061.1, Facilitating the Return to the United States of Certain Lawfully Removed Aliens, including information on points of contact, transportation documentation, what happens upon return, and more.
BIA Overturns Denial of Motion for Continuance
In an unpublished decision, the BIA overturned the IJ’s denial of a continuance to allow the respondent to pursue adjustment of status, finding that the denial rested on a clearly erroneous factual finding of previous marriage fraud. Courtesy of Nicolas Chavez.
AILA ICE Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes (4/26/12)
AILA ICE Liaison Committee minutes from the 4/26/12 liaison meeting with ICE, including information on facilitating the return of noncitizens who prevail on judicial review, OSUP, Form I-246, prosecutorial discretion, notario fraud victims and U visa applicants, and more.
Secretary Napolitano Senate Testimony on DHS Oversight
Written testimony of DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano for a 4/25/12 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled “The Oversight of the Department of Homeland Security” where she discussed border issues, E-Verify, visitor visas, unauthorized practice of law, and many other issues.
CA1 on Corroboration in Asylum Proceedings
Applying the law as it existed prior to the REAL ID Act, the court found that the BIA should have made an explicit finding on the adequacy of the asylum applicant’s explanation for failing to corroborate certain aspects of his claim. (Soeung v. Holder, 4/25/12)
DOJ “Clarifies and Corrects” Statements Made to the Supreme Court
Letter from Michael Dreeben, Deputy Solicitor General, to William Suter, Clerk of the Supreme Court, to “clarify and correct” statements made in Nken v. Holder. Includes DHS & DOS guidance on facilitating the return of noncitizens who prevail on judicial review.
DOS Cable: Parole of Removed Aliens
A 4/24/12 DOS cable outlining the procedures that apply when a noncitizen who was previously removed from the United States, but successfully prevails on judicial review, requests assistance in returning to the United States.
TRAC Report on Historic Drop in Deportation Orders
TRAC report on decrease in deportation orders for January-March 2012, resulting in immigration courts issuing 2,429 fewer deportation orders than in the previous quarter, even as immigration court backlogs increased.
CA9 Finds Misprision of Felony Not CIMT
The court found that misprision of a felony is not categorically a CIMT, and noted that the fact an offense violates “societal duties” is not enough to make it a CIMT; otherwise, every crime would be a CIMT. (Robles-Urrea v. Holder, 4/23/12)
CA2 Finds NY Second-Degree Assault Is an Aggravated Felony
The court found that NY second-degree assault is an aggravated felony, and that Padilla did not overturn precedent holding that the Ex Post Facto Clause is not applicable in the deportation context. (Morris v. Holder, 4/23/12)