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
Orlando IJ Grants Asylum to Victim of Domestic Violence
An immigration judge for the Orlando, Florida Immigration Court finds that a victim of domestic violence merits a grant of asylum on humanitarian grounds. The social group is defined as “Honduran women in intimate relationships who are unable to leave the relationship.” Courtesy of John Ovink.
CA9 Finds Subjective Intent is Not Relevant to “Changed Circumstances”
The court held that there was no support for the IJ’s holding that Petitioner did not qualify for the changed circumstances exception to asylum filing deadline solely because his subjective intent to apply existed before the expiration of the one-year period. (Fakhry v. Mukasey, 5/5/08)
CA11 Finds No Jurisdiction to Review BIA’s Refusal to Reopen Sua Sponte
CA11 held that it lacks jurisdiction to hear an appeal of BIA’s denial of a motion to reopen because the decision to reopen proceedings sua sponte is an action “committed to agency discretion by law” under the Administrative Procedure Act. (Lenis v. United States Att’y Gen., 5/5/08)
CA9 Upholds Denial of MTR Asylum Claim Based on Changed Circumstances
CA9 held that the BIA’s interpretation of INA §208(a)(2)(D) and §240(c)(7) in Matter of C-W-L- was reasonable, and found that Petitioner could apply for asylum only by filing a motion to reopen, subject to its limitations, despite a change in circumstances. (Chen v. Mukasey, 5/2/08)
CA3 Rejects Taylor/Shepard Approach in Determining Amount of Loss in Fraud Conviction
The court held that for purposes of the amount of loss under INA §101(a)(43)(M)(i), where a petitioner has not admitted to an amount in a plea, nor has a jury found an amount as part of a conviction, a court may inquire outside the record of conviction. (Nijhawan v. AG of the U.S., 5/2/08)
CA2 Remands, Finds Petitioner Did Not Waive His Right to Appeal
The court held that while accepting an IJ’s decision as final can serve as an effective waiver of appeal, the record did not support the conclusion that Petitioner or counsel understood the nature of the waiver. (Ali v. Mukasey, 5/2/08)
Immigration Law Today-May/June 2008
The May/June 2008 issue of Immigration Law Today focuses on asylum and relief, including the need for professional interpreters at asylum interviews, obtaining parole for asylum-seekers, and finding room for FGM relief.
Immigration Law Advisor, April 2008 (Vol. 2, No.4)
Immigration Law Advisor with an article on affording material support to a terrorist organization and the discretionary exemption to inadmissibility, federal court activity for March 2008, an article on immigration consequences of drug offenses, BIA precedent decisions, and a regulatory update.
Iowa Defense Lawyers Given Government Manual
A Government "manual" was distributed to defense attorneys in Iowa who represented immigrant workers that were arrested in May 2008.
Text of “Detainee Basic Medical Care Act” (H.R. 5950)
On 5/1/08, Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), introduced the “Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008” (H.R. 5950), to require the DHS Secretary to establish procedures for the timely and effective delivery of medical and mental health care to all immigration detainees in custody.
Vera Institute’s Evaluation Report of EOIR’s Legal Orientation Program
EOIR released Vera Institute of Justice’s Evaluation, Performance and Outcome Measurement Report of the Legal Orientation Program, which seeks to provide individuals in removal proceedings information on forms of relief, how to represent themselves pro se, and how to obtain legal representation.
CA7 Criticizes NIV Form DS-156; Allows Petitioner to Proceed With §212(d)(3) Waiver
Citing the “fatally flawed” Form DS-156 and the IJ's failure to advise Petitioner of all available avenues of relief, CA7 held that the BIA erred in finding Petitioner lost the opportunity to seek a waiver by not specifically requesting one in proceedings. (Atunnise v. Mukasey, 4/30/08)
CA9 Discusses Ineffective Assistance Rendered by Non-Attorney
The court held that knowing reliance upon the advice of a non-attorney cannot support a claim for ineffective assistance of counsel in removal proceedings. (Hernandez v. Mukasey, 4/30/08)
CA1 Upholds Finding of No Past Persecution in Indonesian Withholding Claim
The court found that past persecution findings are “easily inferable” and in Petitioner’s case both the IJ and BIA discussed the past incidents and found they failed to justify the relief Petitioner requested. (Pulisir v. Mukasey, 4/29/08)
CA5 Holds Misprision of a Felony Necessarily Involves Fraud or Deceit
CA5 held that, because misprision of a felony under 18 USC §4 necessarily involves fraud or deceit, Petitioner, who did not dispute that the amount of loss resulting from his misprision conviction exceeded $10,000, was convicted of an aggravated felony. (Patel v. Mukasey, 4/29/08)
Stakeholder/USCIS Q & As 4/29/08 (Updated 7/2/08)
USCIS revised the answer to question #12 of the Q & As from the 4/29/08 Stakeholder meeting. The revised answer pertains to administratively closed I-730 applications.
CA9 Finds Aiding and Abetting Assault with a Deadly Weapon is an Aggravated Felony
The court held that a person convicted of aiding and abetting an assault with a deadly weapon under Cal. Penal Code §245(a)(1) has committed a crime of violence, and thus an aggravated felony, as if he had personally committed the offense. (Ortiz-Magana v. Mukasey, 4/28/08)
CA6 Rejects Chinese Withholding and CAT Claims Based on U.S. Born Children
The court noted that children born outside of China are not counted for purposes of China’s population control policies and held that Petitioner failed to demonstrate that the evidence compelled a different conclusion. (Huang v. Mukasey, 4/25/08)
CA1 Upholds Finding of Changed Conditions in Cambodian Asylum Claim
The court found that the adverse credibility determination was not supported by the record, and that Petitioner had suffered past persecution, but agreed with the IJ that country reports indicated that conditions had changed in Cambodia. (Ly v. Mukasey, 4/24/08)
CA7 Addresses Deceit in Asylum Claims; Upholds Adverse Credibility Finding
The court noted re the REAL ID Act that most claims can neither be confirmed nor refuted by documentary evidence, and that liars tend to give fewer details, finding substantial evidence supported the IJ’s determination. (Mitondo v. Mukasey, 4/24/08)
CA9 Finds “Annoying or Molesting a Child” Under CA Law is Not Categorically a CIMT
The court held that a misdemeanor conviction under Cal. Penal Code §647.6(a), for annoying or molesting a child under the age of eighteen is not categorically a crime involving moral turpitude. (Nicanor-Romero v. Mukasey, 4/24/08)
CA9 Rejects CAT Claim of Mentally Disabled Man for Lack of Specific Intent
The court held it lacked jurisdiction to review IJ’s finding that petitioner’s robbery conviction was a particularly serious crime and rejected his CAT claim, holding that he failed to establish that the harm he would suffer in a mental institution in Mexico. (Villegas v. Mukasey, 4/23/08)
OPPM 08-03: Application of the Immigration Court Practice Manual to Pending Cases
In this April 23, 2008, Operating Policies and Procedures Memorandum (OPPM), Chief Immigration Judge David L. Neal addresses the application of the Practice Manual’s filing deadlines to non-detained cases pending on July 1, 2008, the date the Manual becomes effective.
CA2 Finds Criminal Stop-Time Rule Not Impermissibly Retroactive
The court held that the stop-time rule was not impermissibly retroactive as applied to Petitioner, whose proceedings were initiated post-IIRIRA, but the criminal conduct occurred pre-IIRIRA. (Martinez v. INS, 4/23/08)
CA5 Finds Filing a False Tax Return is an Aggravated Felony Under INA §101(a)(43)(M)(i)
CA5 held that INA §101(a)(43)(M) does not limit aggravated felony tax offenses to tax evasion, and that filing a false tax return in violation of 26 USC §7206(1) is an aggravated felony under subsection (M)(i) if it involves a loss exceeding $10,000. (Arguelles-Olivares v. Mukasey, 4/22/08)