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
Featured Issue: Ensuring Legal Representation for People Facing Removal
Despite the critical role legal representation plays in ensuring fairness in removal proceedings, the law still does not guarantee the government will pay for counsel if the person is unable to afford one. AILA provides resources on ensuring legal representation for people facing removal.
CA1 Finds No Colorable Legal or Constitutional Error in BIA’s Denial of Sua Sponte Reopening
The court denied the consolidated petitions for review, holding that the Bosniak petitioners failed to raise any colorable legal or constitutional claims challenging the BIA’s denial of sua sponte reopening. (Hodzic v. Bondi, et al., 3/19/26)
Policy Brief: America Needs Independent, Fair, and Efficient Immigration Courts
The Administration has implemented many changes to the immigration court system that undermines its ability to deliver fair outcomes consistent with the law. This brief explores these changes and provides recommendations to Congress to make the courts fairer, faster, and restore the public’s trust.
AILA Sends Letter to Leader Thune, Leader Schumer, Speaker Johnson, and Leader Jeffries on Funding for ICE and CBP
AILA President Jeff Joseph and Executive Director Ben Johnson sent a letter to Leader Thune, Leader Schumer, Speaker Johnson, and Leader Jeffries to block funding to ICE and CBP until meaningful reforms are enacted to hold these agencies accountable and restore safety to American communities.
BIA Denies Motion to Reopen for SIJ-Based Adjustment of Status Due to Four-Year Delay in Visa Availability
The BIA held that no ineffective assistance claim lies where person retained was not an attorney and did not hold himself out as one, and that minor respondents’ SIJ-based adjustment eligibility was speculative due to visa unavailability. Matter of Z–R–C–N–, et al., 29 I&N Dec. 523 (BIA 2026)
BIA Vacates Grant of Cancellation Where Economic and Educational Hardships to Respondent’s Children Were Not Exceptional and Extremely Unusual
The BIA held that respondent had not shown that the economic, educational, and emotional hardships his 26– and 24-year-old children might experience if he was removed to Mexico would constitute exceptional and extremely unusual hardship. Matter of Arevalo-Vargas, 29 I&N Dec. 519 (BIA 2026)
EOIR Issues Policy Memo on Deadline for Appealing an Immigration Judge Decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals
EOIR Director Daren Margolin issued Policy Memorandum (PM) 26-02 to clarify that the appeal deadline for all immigration court decisions to the BIA is 30 days as a result of the Amica Ctr. for Immig. Rts. v. EOIR lawsuit. The memo also states ACIS should also reflect the current 30-day deadline.
BIA Finds Respondent’s Intent to Seek Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver Did Not Warrant Continued Administrative Closure
Where the respondent’s removal proceedings had been administratively closed for over 13 years, the BIA held that continued administrative closure was not warranted based on her intention to apply for a provisional unlawful presence waiver. Matter of Medina Madrid, 29 I&N Dec. 514 (BIA 2026)
The Advocates for Human Rights File Lawsuit to Protect Public Access to Immigration Court Hearings
The Advocates for Human Rights filed a lawsuit against DOJ and EOIR in the DC District Court to challenge DOJ's increasing restrictions in public access to hearings at the Fort Snelling Immigration Court in Minnesota. (The Advocates for Human Rights v. Bondi et al., 3/12/26)
CA8 Holds That Substantial Evidence Is the Standard of Review for Exceptional and Extremely Unusual Hardship Determinations
The court held that hardship determinations under the exceptional and extremely unusual hardship standard are reviewed for substantial evidence, and denied the petition for review as to the Mexican petitioner seeking cancellation of removal. (Alonso-Juarez v. Bondi, 3/12/26)
BIA Holds That IJ Errs in Terminating Proceedings Without Taking Pleadings Where Respondents Appear but DHS Does Not
The BIA held that where the respondents appear at an initial master calendar hearing, but DHS does not, the IJ errs in terminating proceedings without taking the respondents’ pleadings to the Notices to Appear (NTAs). Matter of Arana Castillo, et al., 29 I&N Dec. 593 (BIA 2026)
Policy Brief: Americans Want Safe Communities, Not a Dangerous and Costly Deportation Agenda
The Administration's focus on pursuing its immigration enforcement agenda has endangered American communities while recklessly spending taxpayer funds. This policy brief questions this agenda and provides commonsense strategies to improve immigration enforcement and public safety.
EOIR Announces 42 Immigration Judges
EOIR announced the investiture of 42 immigration judges who joined immigration courts in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
CA1 Upholds Asylum Denial as to Bisexual Petitioner from Honduras Based on Lack of Persecution and Nexus
The court held that the respondent, a bisexual woman from Honduras, failed to establish past persecution, a nexus to a protected ground, or that the Honduran government was unable or unwilling to protect her from private actors. (Maldonado-Ruiz v. Bondi, 3/10/26)
CA9 Denies Petitioners’ Opposed Motion to Stay Removal and Lifts Temporary Stay in Rojas-Espinoza v. Bondi
The en banc court denied the petitioners’ opposed motion to stay removal pursuant to Nken v. Holder and Leiva-Perez v. Holder, and lifted the temporary stay of removal previously entered pursuant to General Order 6.4(c) effective immediately. (Rojas-Espinoza v. Bondi, 3/10/26)
AILA Litigation Spotlight: Innovation Law Lab Wins Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus
AILA members at the Innovation Law Lab won habeas relief for M.L.G.G., who was unlawfully arrested and detained by ICE without a warrant. The Oregon district court rejected tolling of her removal period, found due process violations, and ordered her immediate release.
Federal Court Blocks Key Portions of IFR Changing BIA Appellate Procedures
A federal court issued a summary judgement blocking key portions of the Appellate Procedures for the Board of Immigration Appeals IFR from taking effect, including provisions allowing summary dismissal of appeals and shortening the appeal deadline. (Amica Center for Immigrant Rights v. EOIR, 3/8/26)
CA9 Issues Temporary Stay of District Court Ruling on Bond Hearings
The court temporarily stayed a district court’s 12/18/25 declaratory judgment and 2/18/26 order which ruled that nationwide class members are entitled to a bond hearing and vacated Matter of Yajure Hurtado. (Maldonado Bautista v. DHS, 3/6/26)
BIA Holds Generalized Violence Cannot Rebut Past Persecution Presumption and Finds Access Device Fraud Conspiracy a Particularly Serious Crime
The BIA held that an IJ cannot rely on generalized violence to find the presumption of future persecution unrebutted after DHS shows a fundamental change in circumstances and that access device fraud conspiracy is a particularly serious crime. Matter of R-B-E-, 29 I&N Dec. 499 (BIA 2026)
BIA Holds That IJ Erred in Finding Expert Testimony Persuasive and in Giving It Significant Weight
The BIA held that where an expert witness’ background and testimony reflect a reluctance to consider contrary evidence and an inability to impartially assess matters on removal to a country, an IJ errs in giving that testimony significant weight. Matter of D–J–L–, 29 I&N Dec. 485 (BIA 2026)
DOJ NPRM on Review of State Bar Complaints and Allegations Against DOJ Attorneys
DOJ proposed rule that would give AG the right to review complaints and allegations made before a state bar against current and former DOJ attorneys and to request that the bar suspend investigations until DOJ completes its review. Comments are due 4/6/26. (91 FR 10780, 3/5/26)
EOIR Notice of Revision of Request To Be Included on the List of Pro Bono Legal Service Providers
EOIR notice of revision of Form EOIR-56, Request To Be Included on the List of Pro Bono Legal Service Providers for Individuals in Immigration Proceedings. Changes are non-substantive. Comments are due 5/4/26. (91 FR 10830, 3/5/26)
EOIR Comment Request on Extension and Revision of Change of Address/Contact Information Form
EOIR notice and comment request on extension and revision of Form EOIR-33, Change of Address/Contact Information Form. EOIR proposes to remove address form fields allowing the subject to designate a third party to receive mail from EOIR on their behalf. Comments are due 5/4/26. (91 FR 10829, 3/5/36)
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights et al. v. Noem et al., in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 25-cv-872 (JMC).
AILA’s amicus brief in Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights et al. v. Noem et al. argues that DHS’s unprecedented move to place parolees into expedited removal is unlawful, upends a decades old framework, forces people into detention, and blocks their path to permanent status.
AILA Files Amicus Brief in Case Challenging Matter of Soram
This brief in Rivera-Mendoza v. Bondi challenges the BIA’s ruling in Matter of Soram, under which a noncitizen may be deported for negligently creating a “sufficient” risk to a child, arguing it exceeds Congress’s 1996 intent to deport only for crimes of child abuse, neglect, or abandonment.