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
CA3 Again Denies Petitioner’s Derivative Citizenship Claim as Foreclosed by Precedent
On remand from the Supreme Court, the court concluded that it lacked jurisdiction over petitioner’s claim that the BIA erred in declining to self-certify his late-filed appeal, and found that petitioner’s citizenship claim lacked merit under binding precedent. (Abdulla v. Att’y Gen., 8/27/25)
EOIR Policy Memo (PM 25-43) Regarding Employee Feedback
EOIR Acting Director Sirce E. Owen released a Policy Memorandum (PM 25-43) establishing EOIR policy regarding employee feedback, particularly in light of the recent announcement by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) of the cancellation of the 2025 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS).
CA10 Holds That BIA Misstated Nexus Standard for Mixed-Motive Asylum Claims
The court held that the BIA’s stated nexus standard for mixed-motive asylum claims was erroneous, because persecution can be “on account of” a protected ground under INA §101(a)(42)(A), even where unprotected grounds also motivated the persecutor. (O.C.V., et al. v. Bondi, 8/26/25)
CA4 Holds Federal Conviction under 18 USC §922(a)(1)(A) Qualifies as Aggravated Felony of Illicit Trafficking in Firearms
The court held that petitioner’s conviction under 18 USC §922(a)(1)(A) for engaging in business of dealing firearms without a license qualified as the generic aggravated felony of illicit trafficking in firearms under INA §101(a)(43)(C). (Alvarez Ronquillo v. Bondi, 8/15/25, amended 8/25/25)
CA9 Declines to Rehear Lopez v. Bondi En Banc
The court denied a petition for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc in a case in which the court upheld the BIA’s conclusion that the petitioner’s petit larceny convictions under Reno Municipal Code §8.10.040 were crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMTs). (Lopez v. Bondi, 8/25/25)
EOIR Policy Memo (PM 25-42) on Adjudicator Independence and Impartiality
EOIR Acting Director Sirce E. Owen published a Policy Memo (PM 25-42) establishing updated guidance regarding the independence and impartiality of EOIR adjudicators. This memo supersedes and replaces PM 21-15.
CA7 Upholds Asylum Denial as to Honduran Petitioner Threatened by Former Leader of Land Cooperative
The court upheld the agency’s denial of asylum and withholding of removal, finding that the petitioner, who was threatened by a former leader of a Honduran land cooperative, failed to show that Honduran authorities were unable or unwilling to protect her. (Martinez-Martinez v. Bondi, 8/14/25)
EOIR Policy Memo (PM) 25-41 Establishing Updated Guidance for the Dedicated Docket
EOIR Acting Director Sirce E. Owen issued policy memo (PM) 25-41 establishing updated guidance for the Dedicated Docket. Moving forward, DHS may schedule any cases placed on its Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program onto the Dedicated Docket. This PM supersedes and replaces EOIR PM 21-23.
BIA Holds That Lack of Corroboration May Be Independent Basis to Deny Asylum or Withholding
The BIA held that a respondent’s nonresponsive and evasive testimony supports an adverse credibility determination, and that lack of corroboration may be an independent basis to find respondent has not shown eligibility for asylum or withholding. Matter of G–C–I–, 29 I&N Dec. 176 (BIA 2025)
CA2 Upholds BIA’s Denial of Continuance Where Petitioner Failed to Demonstrate Good Cause
The court held that the agency did not abuse its discretion in denying a continuance, finding that the petitioner failed to establish that his U.S.-citizen newborn child would suffer “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” under INA §240A(b)(1)(D). (Hernandez Flores v. Bondi, 8/14/25)
CA5 Upholds Asylum Denial as to Venezuelan Opposition Member Shot and Threatened by Paramilitary Group
The court found that the petitioner, who feared persecution by a paramilitary group in Venezuela, failed to establish past persecution from death threats and a gunshot wound or demonstrate a well-founded, objectively reasonable fear of future persecution. (Montiel Rubio v. Bondi, 8/13/25)
CA3 Finds Mexican Petitioner’s Asylum Claim Was Unexhausted and Upholds BIA’s Denial of Cancellation
The court found that the BIA did not abuse its discretion in finding petitioner waived his challenges to the denial of asylum and related relief, upheld the BIA’s denial of cancellation of removal, and held that the BIA properly rejected his due process claim. (Sanchez v. Att’y Gen., 8/15/25)
CA3 Finds BIA’s Incorrect Ruling on New Evidence Relevant to Reopening Was Harmless Error
The court held that although the BIA legally erred in concluding that the birth of the petitioner’s daughter was not new evidence that could justify reopening because it occurred a few weeks before the BIA issued its decision, its error was harmless. (Suchite-Salguero v. Att’y Gen., 8/14/25)
CA4 Upholds Asylum Denial as to Salvadoran Petitioner Based on Lack of Nexus
The court upheld the agency’s conclusion that petitioner had not been persecuted on the basis of membership in her immediate family, and found there was a lack of nexus between the home invasion she experienced and her status as a single Salvadoran woman. (Rivas de Nolasco v. Bondi, 8/14/25)
CA7 Upholds Cancellation Denial as to Mexican Father of U.S.-Citizen Children with Anxiety Disorders
The court upheld the denial of cancellation of removal based on no exceptional and extremely unusual hardship, finding that the petitioner’s children’s anxiety reflected stress commonly seen in removal proceedings and that financial harm could be mitigated. (Santos Mendoza v. Bondi, 8/14/25)
Featured Issue: Immigration Enforcement Under Trump 2.0
The Administration has ramped up immigration enforcement efforts, including arresting people attending hearings at immigration courts and appointments at USCIS and ICE field offices. Far from keeping us safe, indiscriminate enforcement harms our families, communities, and our nation as a whole.
CA4 Remands for New Removal Hearing Where BIA Erroneously Rejected Petitioner’s Ineffective Assistance Claim
The court held that the BIA erred in finding that petitioner failed to show counsel was ineffective, where counsel proposed a legal theory foreclosed by controlling precedent and omitted arguments with a strong chance of success, resulting in prejudice. (Guandique-de Romero v. Bondi, 8/13/25)
BIA Reverses IJ’s Grant of Cancellation as to Respondent with Convictions for Endangering Welfare of Child
The BIA held that the respondent’s convictions for endangering the welfare of a child, combined with his conduct as described in the charging document and the victim’s statement, showed that he did not warrant a favorable exercise of discretion. Matter of McDonald, 29 I&N Dec. 249 (BIA 2025)
CA7 Upholds Asylum Denial as to Nicaraguan Petitioner Who Supported Anti-Government Protests
The court held that substantial evidence supported BIA’s finding that petitioner, who feared state-sponsored retribution in Nicaragua for supporting anti-Sandinista protesters, failed to show a well-founded fear of future persecution or likelihood of torture. (Rivas-Jarquin v. Bondi, 8/11/25)
BIA Holds New Jersey Conviction for Possession with Intent to Sell Fentanyl Was a Controlled Substance Offense under INA
The BIA held that section 2C:35-5(b)(4) of the New Jersey Statutes Annotated was divisible by controlled substance, and that the respondent’s record of conviction identified the relevant substance as fentanyl, a federally controlled substance. Matter of Frias Ulloa, 29 I&N Dec. 259 (BIA 2025)
BIA Holds That Respondent with Private Counsel Failed to Show He Was Unable to Pay Requisite Filing Fee
The BIA held that a nondetained noncitizen represented by counsel is presumed able to pay IJ and BIA filing fees, and that a fee waiver request from a nondetained adult noncitizen with zeros in all income blocks is presumptively invalid. Matter of Garcia Martinez, 29 I&N Dec. 169 (BIA 2025)
EOIR Policy Memorandum (PM 25-40) on Use of Generative AI in EOIR Proceedings
EOIR Acting Director released Policy Memorandum (PM) 25-40 on use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in EOIR proceedings. EOIR neither prohibits generative AI use in its proceedings nor requires disclosure of its use. Individual adjudicators or courts may adopt standing orders regarding AI.
BIA Finds IJ Exceeded Authority in Assessing Whether Respondent Warranted Favorable Exercise of Discretion
The BIA held the IJ exceeded his authority to consider the circumstances of respondent’s conviction by making an adverse credibility finding as to respondent’s two child victims, in effect finding respondent factually innocent of the crime. Matter of Garcia-Flores, 29 I&N Dec. 230 (BIA 2025)
Practice Alert: ICE Updates Legal Position in Bond Proceedings
AILA members report a change in OPLA's legal position to designate people who entered without inspection ineligible for bond.
CA2 Holds That INA §209(b) Allows Only Noncitizens with Current Asylum Status to Adjust to LPR status
The court held that the plain text of INA §209(b) allows only noncitizens with current asylum status to adjust to lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, and concluded that petitioners could not adjust to LPR status because their asylum status had been terminated. (Wassily v. Bondi, 8/7/25)