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
CA7 Relies on Airport/Credible Fear Interview to Uphold Adverse Credibility
The court found the credible fear interviews reliable because a translator was present. Although Petitioner claimed she did not mention the forced abortion due to shame, the court held that the explanation did not overcome the level of deference due. (Xiao v. Mukasey, 10/27/08)
CA7 Upholds Denial of Adjustment Due, in Part, to Asylum Fraud
CA7 held that it lacks jurisdiction to review a denial of a continuance, unless denial would result in nullifying the statutory opportunity to adjust status. The court upheld the denial of the continuance based on past conduct (lying to the asylum officer). (Malik v. Mukasey, 10/23/08)
CA9 Finds Petitioner Who Purchased Green Card Does Not Qualify for Equitable Estoppel
The court denies petition for review, finding the petitioner fails to qualify for estoppel as she paid a govt employee $10K for a fraudulent green card, and was not ignorant of the scheme. (Shin v. Mukasey, 10/23/08)
BIA Finds Applicant’s Qualifying Relative Must be Living
The BIA held that the purpose of a fraud waiver is to unite aliens with their living USC or LPR family members and concludes that because the waiver applicant’s mother is deceased, he lacks the qualifying relative. Matter of Federiso, 24 I&N Dec. 661, (BIA 2008)
DHS Fact Sheet on Exemption Authority for Certain Terrorist-related Inadmissibility Grounds
DHS released a fact sheet on the implementation of exemption authority for certain terrorist-related inadmissibility grounds for cases with administratively final orders of removal.
AILA Liaison/EOIR Q&As (10/21/08)
On 10/21/08, EOIR provided answers to AILA’s EOIR Liaison Committee. The Q&As address limited appearances, EOIR-27s on a remanded case, NTAs missing a court date or assigned IJ, legal effect of ICE stipulations, IJ impartiality, Practice Manual issues, continuances in U, T, and VAWA cases and more.
CA9 Finds BIA Erred in Holding that Statutory Rape Conviction Constituted Aggravated Felony
The court grants petition for review, finding that the petitioner’s conviction under California penal code statutory rape provisions does not constitute the aggravated felony “sexual abuse of a minor” within the meaning of 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43). (Estrada-Espinoza v. Mukasey, 10/20/08)
Supreme Court to Hear Identity Theft Case
The Supreme Court granted certiorari to determine what federal prosecutors must show to prove aggravated identity theft under 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1). The case is Flores-Figueroa v. U.S., 08-108.
Section-by-Section Analysis of the “Immigration Oversight and Fairness Act” (H.R. 7255)
Section-by-section analysis of the “Immigration Oversight and Fairness Act” (H.R. 7255), introduced by Representative Roybal-Allard (D-CA) on 10/03/08.
CA1 Upholds IJ's Negative Credibility Finding in Albanian Asylum Claim
The court found that the cumulative effect of inconsistencies regarding the beating Petitioner suffered and his lack of knowledge of Albanian politics were sufficient to support the IJ’s negative credibility finding. (Bebri v. Mukasey, 10/17/08)
CA2 Finds BIA Failed to Make Individualized Analysis of Changed Conditions
The court held that the BIA failed to address the evidence of continued persecution of Serbian minorities in Montenegro and failed to conduct an individualized analysis of changed conditions. (Alibasic v. Mukasey, 10/17/08)
CA6 Finds that an Aggravated Felony Crime of Violence is not Equivalent to §212(a) CIMT
Court concludes the Cambodian petitioner is not eligible for INA§ 212(c) relief, as an aggravated felony crime of violence ground for removal is not substantially equivalent to a CIMT ground for exclusion such that the two could be statutory counterparts. (Thap v. Mukasey, 10/15/08)
EOIR Announces 12 New Legal Orientation Program Sites
On 10/15/08 EOIR announced that 12 new Legal Orientation Program sites will be operational by December 2008.
CA2 Upholds 3-Part Test for Asylum Based on More than One Child
The court found that the well-founded fear requirement for more than one child in China must be decided on a case-by-case basis and that the BIA’s three-step evidentiary analysis did not increase the burden of proof. (Shao v. Mukasey, 10/10/08)
EOIR Fact Sheet on FOIA Request Filings
A 10/9/08 Fact Sheet outlines procedures for filing a FOIA request with EOIR.
CA2 on Burden of Proof in Abandonment of Status Determination
The court found that because the petitioner left the country as an LPR, the sole question is whether she abandoned that status during her trip abroad, which DHS bore the burden of proving by clear, unequivocal and convincing evidence. (Matadin v. Mukasey, 10/8/08)
CA6 Finds a Birth of Two US Children Cannot Support MTR Asylum Claim
CA6 holds that, after a removal order is final for 90+ days, the exclusive avenue for relief is a motion to reopen and an additional asylum application is permissible if supported by changed country conditions, not changed personal circumstances. (Zhang v. Mukasey, 10/8/08)
CA9 Holds Non-Aggravated Felony Crimes Can Be Bars to Asylum and Withholding
The court deferred to the BIA’s interpretation that for purposes of withholding, the INA permits a determination that an applicant’s crime is particularly serious even though the crime is not an aggravated felony. (Delgado v. Mukasey, 10/8/08)
ICE Strategy of Prosecution for Federal Crimes and Swift Deportation
A policy brief from the DHS-NGO Enforcement Working Group reviews ICE's recent enforcement actions in Postville, Iowa and Laurel Mississippi, and pinpoints the human rights violations inherent in ICE's latest strategies.
CA2 Says Removal Proceedings Preclude Court’s Ability to Grant Naturalization
The court found that the district court properly dismissed the petitioner’s INA §336(b) claim for failure to state a claim on which naturalization relief could be granted while removal proceedings were pending. (Ajlani v. Chertoff, 10/7/08)
CA9 Upholds Adverse Credibility Finding for Gay Guatemalan with One Dissent
CA9 declined to apply the law of the case for this claim that had been remanded once to the BIA, finding that it would constitute a manifest injustice, then held that the adverse credibility determinations were well supported by substantial evidence. (Martinez v. Mukasey, 10/6/08)
AILF Files Amicus Brief with Attorney General on Ineffective Counsel
AILF amicus brief reiterating immigrants' right to protection against ineffective assistance of counsel after the AG signaled that he may eliminate immigrants' long-standing ability to protect their rights and salvage their removal case when former counsel was ineffective.
BIA Addresses Asylum and Resistance to Forced IUDs in China
The BIA held that the insertion of an IUD as part of China's family planning policy does not rise to the level of harm necessary to constitute “persecution” absent aggravating circumstances. Matter of M-F-W- & L-G, 24 I&N Dec. 633 (BIA 2008)
BIA Denies MTR Sua Sponte Holding Departure Bar Remains in Effect
The BIA held that the departure bar rule remains in effect, thus it lacks jurisdiction to consider the removed alien’s motion to reopen sua sponte. Matter of Armendarez-Mendez, 24 I&N Dec. 646 (BIA 2008)
President Signs the Child Soldiers Accountability Act of 2008
On 10/3/08, President Bush signed into law the Child Soldiers Accountability Act of 2008 (PL 110-340). The law amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to render any alien who has recruited or used child soldiers inadmissible or deportable.