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
CA2 Rejects BIA Interpretation of CAT Requirements
The court overruled the BIA in Matter of Y-L- to hold that CAT requires "only that government officials know of or remain willfully blind to an act and thereafter breach their legal responsibility to prevent it." (Khouzam v. Ashcroft, 2/24/04)
CA11 Vacates Prior Decision Finding Removability Not Established in Weapons Case and Orders Rehearing En Banc
CA11 ordered rehearing en banc and vacated the panel’s prior decision, which held that the INS failed to meet its burden of proving deportability based on an alleged 1991 firearms conviction. (Adefemi v. Ashcroft, 2/24/04)
Supreme Court Grants Certiorari to Review Whether DUI, Without Mens Rea, is a Crime of Violence
The Supreme Court will decide whether, in light of Matter of Ramos, the petitioner - who was convicted in Florida for driving under the influence with serious bodily injury - was convicted of a crime of violence and therefore an aggravated felony. (Leocal v. Ashcroft, 2/23/04)
U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Case on Removal to Country Without That Country's Prior Acceptance
The Supreme Court granted cert to resolve a circuit split on whether the U.S. may remove a foreign national to a country which has not given prior acceptance to receiving that individual. (Jama v. INS, 2/23/04)
CA2 Says "Defeating a Tax" Is an Aggravated Felony Tax Offense
The court found that attempting to evade or defeat a tax in violation of 26 USC §7201 is an aggravated felony relating to tax evasion under INA §101(a)(43)(M)(ii). (Evangelista v. Ashcroft, 2/23/04)
CA9 Remands Aggravated Feonlyl Re-Entry Case for Review of Prejudice in Prior Defective Removal
Remanding for review of prejudice in petitioner's removal hearing, CA9 found the prior aggravated felony removal to be defective. (U.S. v. Pallares-Galan, 2/20/04)
CA2 Remands Asylum Case for Consideration of Physical Abuse
The court found that the BIA's decision was fatally flawed where it erroneously asserted that Petitioner had not been beaten and further instructed the agency to not place “excessive reliance” on the DOS report on remand. (Chen v. Ashcroft, 2/18/04)
Major Management Challenges Facing the Department of Homeland Security
The DHS's Office of the Inspector General's report cites the major management challenges facing the DHS to be: consolidating components, contracts, grants, finances, human capital, border security, transportation security, integration of info systems, and security of technology infrastructure.
AG Reverses BIA Affirmance Without Opinion
In an unpublished decision, the Attorney General reversed the BIA's affirmance without opinion and granted asylum to a Lebanese Christian who had previously assisted the U.S. Marines in Lebanon. Courtesy of Tim Wichmer.
CA9 Finds No Jurisdiction to Review Due Process Claim Where Not Raised Below
The Ninth Circuit found that the petitioner must have raised his challenges with the IJ or the BIA for the Circuit to have jurisdiction to review claims of due process rights violations. (Barron v. Ashcroft, 2/10/04)
CA10 Upholds BIA Denials and Constitutionality of the AWO Procedure
The Court found that the petitioner didn’t prove an adequate basis for failing to timely file, and denied the request for nunc pro tunc voluntary departure because the appeal was filed after the expiration of the voluntary departure period. (Sviridov v. Ashcroft, 2/10/04)
ICE Favors Release of Aliens Granted Relief by IJs During Appeal Pendency
A 2/9/04 memo from Michael Garcia, ICE Assistant Secretary, indicating that "it is ICE policy to favor release of aliens...granted protection relief by an immigration judge, absent exceptional concerns."
BIA Reaffirms That First Degree Manslaughter Is an Aggravated Felony
The BIA reaffirmed its decision that manslaughter in the first degree in violation of New York Penal Law 125.20 is a crime of violence and is therefore an aggravated felony under INA §101(a)(43)(F). (Matter of Vargas-Sarmiento, 2/5/04)
EOIR Guidelines on Electronic Devices in Immigration Courtrooms
The Executive Office for Immigration Review's Office of the Chief Immigration Judge issued a memorandum providing guidance barring recording devices, but permitting laptops, wireless phones, and other business-related electronic devices, provided that they are turned off or made silent.
CA2 Upholds Adverse Credibility Finding in Sri Lankan/Tamil Asylum Claim
The court found that inconsistencies between Petitioner's testimony at trial and the information given during an airport statement supported the IJ's adverse credibility finding. (Ramsameachire v. Ashcroft, 2/3/04)
CA2 Finds Deportation Did Not Render Appeal Moot
The court found that Petitioner's appeal was not rendered moot by deportation because the lifetime bar to re-entry is an ongoing collateral consequence and is an actual injury that could be redressed. (Swaby v. Ashcroft, 2/3/04)
CA2 Affirms Revocation of Former Nazi's U.S. Citizenship
The court found that the government showed by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence that the defendant, on orders from the Nazis, assisted in the persecution of Jews during World War II and was ineligible for citizenship. (U.S. v. Reimer, 1/27/04)
CA9 Finds State Felony Simple Possession Conviction is Not an Aggravated Felony under the INA (Decision Withdrawn by Court Order on 04/26/04)
Joining CA2 and 3, the Ninth Circuit held that state felony drug offenses are not aggravated felonies unless the offense contains a drug trafficking element or is punishable under federal law. (Cazarez-Gutierrez v. Ashcroft, 1/26/04)
CA9 Reverses BIA Denial of Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Motion to Reopen for Minor
The Court found that the minor's counsel was incompetent, and that the minor was denied a full and fair hearing because the IJ "may have to take an affirmative role in securing representation by competent counsel" and did not do so. (Lin v. Ashcroft, 1/26/04)
CA10 Finds it Has Jurisdiction to Review BIA AWO Determinations
The Court rejected the government's arguments that the Court lacked jurisdiction to review the BIA's determinations to issue AWO decisions, but found that the petitioner's case contained no error. (Batalova v. Ashcroft, 1/23/04)
CA7 Finds INA Definition of "Conviction" is Met, Regardless of Pending Appeal
Citing to First and Fifth Circuit decisions, the Seventh Circuit held that an individual is considered “convicted” once a court enters a formal judgment of guilt, regardless of whether any direct appeal of the conviction is pending. ()Montenegro v. Ashcroft, 1/22/04)
ICE Memos on Fugitive Operations Program Apprehension Goals
This document is a series of ICE Office of Detention & Removal memos, obtained by the Cardozo School of Law, which provide guidance for National Fugitive Operations Program teams. They suggest a policy change from focusing on dangerous fugitives, to arresting easy targets without a criminal record.
CA7 Finds that Probationary Disposition Meets the INA Definition of "Conviction"
CA7 found that INA § 236(c) did not preclude review of petitioner’s habeas petition, but ruled against petitioner in holding that a probationary disposition does satisfy the INA definition of "conviction." (Gonzales v. O'Connell, 1/21/04)
CA6 Remands Case on Terrorist Organization Issue
CA6 held that the BIA erred and abused its discretion when it denied a motion to remand where an organization was not designated a terrorist organization at the time of petitioner's involvement, and the record contained several favorable factors. (Daneshvar v. Ashcroft, 01/20/04)
Supreme Court to Address Whether Non-Admitted Foreign Nationals May Be Detained Indefinitely
The Supreme Court granted cert to resolve a circuit split on whether its decision in Zadvydas, striking down indefinite detention of noncitizens awaiting removal, applies to individuals who have not been “admitted.” (Benitez v. Wallis)