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
Resources on Lawsuit Challenging Conditions in CBP Holding Cells
A U.S. district judge ordered CBP to overhaul the way it detains people in custody in the Tucson Sector, finding that conditions in CBP holding cells, especially those that preclude sleep over several nights, are presumptively punitive and violate the Constitution. (Doe v. Wolf, 2/19/20)
BIA Holds Florida Aggravated Battery Does Not Require Use of Force
Unpublished BIA decision holds that aggravated battery under Fla. Stat. 784.045(b) does not require the use of force because it encompasses simple battery against a pregnant victim. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Campbell, 2/19/20)
AILA Submits Amicus Brief on Whether Detention Becomes Unreasonable After One Year
AILA submitted an amicus brief in Reid v. Donelan urging the First Circuit to find that detention without an individualized reasonableness hearing pursuant to Section 1226(c) that lasts any more than six months is presumptively unconstitutional.
Motel 6 Agrees to Pay $10 Million in Revised Settlement for Sharing Guest Data with ICE
A federal judge granted a joint motion for final approval of a $10 million settlement in national class-action litigation on behalf of guests who stayed at a Motel 6 and whose personal information was provided by employees to ICE agents. (Jane V. et al. v. Motel 6 Operating L.P., 2/18/20)
AILA Urges the Ninth Circuit to Affirm the Panel Decision and Reject Matter of Mendoza-Hernandez
AILA submitted an amicus brief to the Ninth Circuit in Lopez v. Barr, arguing that the court should reject the BIA’s decision in Matter of Mendoza-Hernandez affirming that the two-step process triggers the stop-time rule conflicts.
BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Where Paralegal Miscalendared Hearing Date
Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order due to exceptional circumstances because the attorney’s paralegal miscalendared the scheduled hearing date. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Guillen Rosa, 2/18/20)
DHS OIG Finds ICE’s Criminal Alien Program Faces Challenges
DHS OIG released a report noting challenges faced by ICE’s Criminal Alien Program (CAP) due to uncooperative jurisdictions. The report identifies opportunities to streamline CAP processes and notes that ICE inconsistently tracked cases of LPRs charged with crimes or documented CAP-related actions.
Advocates Call on Congress to Establish an Independent Immigration Court
On 2/18/20, 54 immigration, civil rights, faith-based, government accountability, and labor organizations, including AILA, call on Congress to establish an immigration court system that is independent of DOJ so that it can guarantee due process and a fair hearing for immigrants.
CA1 Concludes “Recalendar” Means to Reinstate Case to Active Docket in Same Posture It Occupied Before Administrative Closure
Interpreting the word “recalendar” according to its plain meaning, the court held that the BIA acted appropriately in placing the petitioner’s case back on its docket and in proceeding from where it left off before the case was administratively closed. (Arevalo v. Barr, 2/14/20)
CA11 Remands Asylum Claim of Homosexual Muslim from Guinea Based on Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
Granting the petition for review and remanding, the court concluded that the petitioner, a homosexual Muslim from Guinea, had established deficient performance by his counsel and had shown that his counsel’s deficiencies had prejudiced his case. (Sow v. Att’y Gen., 2/14/20)
The U.S. Resumes Returning Mexican Nationals to the Interior of Mexico
CBP reported that the number of individuals returned deep into the interior of Mexico under the Interior Repatriation Initiative (IRI) has surpassed 1,000 Mexicans.
BIA Holds Texas Weapon Statute Not a Firearms Offense
Unpublished BIA decision holds that carrying a weapon under Tex. Penal Code 46.02(a) is not a firearms offense. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Gomez, 2/14/20)
BIA Holds New York Weapon Statute Not a Firearms Offense
Unpublished BIA decision holds that criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree under N.Y.P.L. 265.03(3) is not a firearms offense because it could apply to loaded antique firearms. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of A-L-O-, 2/13/20)
Motion for Extension to File Opening Brief – Sixth Circuit
Sample motion to for a 45-day extension to file opening brief for the sixth circuit court of appeals. (Miscellaneous Motion)
CA4 Finds Petitioner’s Virginia Conviction for Possession of Ethylone Rendered Him Removable Under INA §237(a)(2)(B)(i)
The court held that because ethylone is a controlled substance under both Virginia and federal law, there was a categorical match between the comparable elements, and thus found that the petitioner was removable pursuant to INA §237(a)(2)(B)(i). (Bah v. Barr, 2/13/20)
EOIR Issues Policy Memo on Immigration Court Practice Manual and Orders
EOIR issued a policy memo clarifying the relationship between the Immigration Court Practice Manual (ICPM) and certain classes of orders that contradict the ICPM or applicable law, as well as rescinding several outdated Operating Policies and Procedures Memoranda.
EOIR Issues Policy Memo on Definitions and Use of Adjournment, Call-Up, and Case Identification Codes
EOIR issued a policy memo rescinding OPPM 18-02, Definitions and Use of Adjournment, Call-Up, and Case Identification Codes, dated June 8, 2018, and setting forth updated codes to track the case hearing process.
Senators Press Attorney General for Information on the Politicization and Mismanagement of U.S. Immigration Courts
On February 13, 2020, several U.S. senators sent a letter to Attorney General Barr requesting information about the training and hiring of immigration judges and the mismanagement of immigration courts in order to ensure that immigration laws are being interpreted and applied fairly and impartially.
CA3 Holds District Court Can Review Certain “Now-or-Never” Claims Brought by Detained Noncitizens
The court held that when a detained noncitizen seeks relief that a court of appeals cannot meaningfully provide on a petition for review of a final order of removal, INA §§242(a)(4) and (b)(9) do not bar consideration of those claims by a district court. (E.O.H.C. v. DHS, et al., 2/13/20)
AILA Urges House Judiciary Committee to Pass the NO BAN Act and the Access to Counsel Act of 2020
AILA submitted a statement urging the House Judiciary Committee to pass H.R. 2214, NO BAN Act, and H.R. 5581, Access to Counsel Act of 2020. These bills will limit executive authority to restrict the entry of persons into the U.S. and grant access to counsel if a person is detained an hour or more.
CA8 Finds Family Membership Was Not a Central Reason for Persecution Feared by Guatemalan Petitioner
Upholding the BIA’s denial of withholding of removal, the court concluded that there was substantial evidence to support the BIA’s finding that the petitioner’s family membership was not a central reason for the persecution she feared in Guatemala. (Silvestre-Giron v. Barr, 2/12/20)
BIA Terminates Proceedings Sua Sponte Following Vacatur of Criminal Conviction
Unpublished BIA decision reopens and terminates proceedings sua sponte after the respondent’s criminal conviction was vacated because he had not been advised of the immigration consequences of his guilty plea. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Deltoro-Aguilar, 2/12/20)
An Inside Look – Tips from a Clinical Social Worker Helping Asylum Seekers
Psychological evaluations can be hugely important for vulnerable clients' cases, but attorneys may have some questions about how best to approach having one done. In this blog post, Jocelyn Dyer shares helpful tips from Aimee Miller, a clinical social worker.
CA6 Finds BIA Reasonably Upheld Adverse Credibility Determination as to Argentinian Asylum Seeker
The court concluded that there were at least three valid evidentiary grounds for the BIA’s decision to uphold the IJ’s adverse credibility finding as to the petitioner, a citizen of Argentina who was seeking asylum, and thus denied the petition for review. (Luna-Romero v. Barr, 2/11/20)
AILA and Partners Submit Amicus Brief Urging the Sixth Circuit to Reverse the BIA’s Decision to Remove Victim of Violent Crime
AILA and partners submitted a redacted amicus brief to the Sixth Circuit requesting reversal of the BIA’s decision to deny petitioner’s motion to remand her removal proceedings so she could pursue her U visa petition.