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
OCIJ Memo on Continuances for Dependents of NACARA
OCIJ memo from Michael Creppy, Chief Immigration Judge, dated May 13, 1998, addresses continuances for spouses, children, and unmarried sons and daughters of individuals who are eligible for suspension of deportation or cancellation of removal under NACARA.
CA2 Dismisses Claims for Lack of Jurisdiction under INA §242(g)
The court held that INA §242(g) divests it and the district court of jurisdiction to decide Plaintiffs’ claims which relate to "the decision of the Attorney General to commence proceedings, adjudicate cases, or execute removal orders." (Jean-Baptiste v. Reno, 5/8/98)
AILA/EOIR April 1998 Liaison Report
April 1998 AILA/EOIR liaison report by Royal F. Berg.
EOIR Liaison Meeting Minutes (4/30/98)
EOIR liaison minutes from an April 30, 1998 liaison meeting between AILA and the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), topics include NACARA/suspension issues, detention and bond, asylum, attorney conduct, and process issues.
INS Memo on Convention Against Torture
A 4/27/98 memo from Joseph Langlois, Deputy Director (INS) providing guidance on procedures and the role of the asylum officer in the Article 3 of the Convention against Torture process.
INS on Section 241(a)(5)
INS update on Section 241(a)(5) applicability to persons entering U.S. with facially valid visas.
Report of AILA General Counsel
The following 'Report of AILA General Counsel' by H. Ronald Klasko addresses issue resolved at the April 23, 1998 INS General Counsel meeting.
Court Finds Filing of Post-Removal AOS the Functional Equivalent of a MTR
The court found that Plaintiff's filing of a post-removal order adjustment application with the District Director was the functional equivalent of a motion to reopen and that it lacked jurisdiction to review the DD's denial post-IIRAIRA. (Bains v. Schiltgen, 4/21/98)
INS Interim Rule on Definition of Arriving Alien
INS interim rule to exempt from the new expedited removal procedures aliens who were paroled into the United States before 4/1/97, as well as aliens who, either before or after 4/1/97, return to the United States pursuant to a grant of advance parole. (63 FR 19382, 4/20/98)
Court Dismisses Bond Redetermination Case for Failure to Exhaust
The court dismissed the habeas petition without prejudice to give the BIA the opportunity to rule on the government's appeal of the IJ's decision that Petitioner was entitled to a bond redetermination hearing. (Thompson v. INS, 4/3/98)
EOIR Notice on Address Change for BIA
Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) notice on their April 6, 1998, address change. (63 FR 16572, 4/3/98)
BIA Finds Harm Suffered Rose to Persecution in the Aggregate
An alien who suffered repeated beatings and received multiple threats, whose apartment was vandalized, and whose son was degraded and intimidated on account of his Jewish nationality established that he suffered harm which rises to the level of persecution. (Matter of O-Z- & I-Z-, 4/2/98)
BIA Says an Alien Returning to the U.S. on Advance Parole Is an "Arriving Alien"
The BIA held that an alien who arrives in the U.S. on advance parole is an "arriving alien," as defined in the regulations and that the IJ has no authority to consider the bond request of an alien returning pursuant to a grant of advance parole. (Matter of Oseiwusu, 3/25/98)
BIA on Jurisdiction Over Motion to Reconsider Dismissal of Appeal
Where the BIA dismisses an appeal as untimely, it retains jurisdiction over a motion to reconsider the dismissal of the appeal to the extent that the motion challenges the finding of untimeliness. (Matter of Lopez, 3/24/98)
AILA Comments on Professional Conduct
AILA and AILF submitted comments on proposed regulations regarding professional conduct for practitioners published at 63 Fed. Reg. 2901 (January 20, 1998).
AILA/AILF Comment on Professional Conduct Regulations
AILA and AILF 3/19/98 comments on proposed regulations regarding professional conduct for practitioners published at 63 Fed. Reg. 2901 (January 20, 1998).
INS HQ Liaison, 3/19/98
Draft minutes of March 19, 1998, INS Headquarters liaison meeting.
BIA on Post-AEDPA 212(c) Eligibility
An alien who is deportable for two or more CIMTS, and whose proceedings were initiated prior to 4/24/96 is not ineligible for a 212(c) waiver unless more than one conviction resulted in a sentence of 1 year or longer pursuant to the pre-AEDPA statute. (Matter of Fortiz-Zelaya, 3/18/98)
BIA Upholds Denial of Asylum Where Corroborating Evidence Was Reasonably Available
The BIA held that an alien who did not provide evidence to corroborate his identity, nationality, claim of persecution, and other relevant claims, where it was reasonable to expect such evidence, failed to meet the burden of proof for asylum. (Matter of M-D-, 3/13/98)
BIA Upholds Denial of Asylum Claim Based on Fear of Shining Path
The BIA held that the reasonableness of an alien's fear is reduced when his family remains in his native country unharmed for a long period after his departure and upheld the denial where DOS evidence indicated the Shining Path operates in only a few areas of Peru. (Matter of A-E-M-, 2/20/98)
BIA Says Asylum Burden Requires More Than General Testimony
The BIA held that an asylum applicant does not meet the burden of proof by general and meager testimony and that the weaker an applicant's testimony, the greater the need for corroborative evidence. (Matter of Y-B-, 2/19/98).
BIA on Credibility and Demeanor
The BIA held that because an IJ is in the unique position to observe the testimony of the alien, a credibility finding which is supported by a reasonable adverse inference drawn from the alien's demeanor generally should be accorded a high degree of deference. (Matter of A-S-, 2/19/98)
Aggravated Felony Press Release Sample
Sample press release from AILA with instructions on retroactive application of the aggravated felony rules.
NSC Liaison Notes from Meeting with NSC (2/12/98)
Minutes from the Nebraska Service Center/AILA Liaison meeting which was held on 2/12/98. Topics included adjustment of status, fingerprints, impact of prior arrests/convictions, aging out, H-1Bs, L-1s, post-approval issues, I-140s, I-130s, naturalizations, and re-entry permits.
BIA on Exercise of Discretion for Cancellation of Removal
The BIA held that the general standards developed in Matter of Marin for the exercise of discretion under 212(c) are applicable to the exercise of discretion under section 240A(a). (Matter of C-V-T-, 2/12/98).