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
EOIR Released UAC Statistics for FY2019
EOIR released statistics on I-862 initial case completions for unaccompanied children (UAC) for FY2019. The total number of pending cases at the end of FY2019 was 91,513. Decisions were made in 14,960 cases, with 10,553 cases ending in removal.
EOIR Released the Current Median UAC Case Completion and Case Pending Time for FY2019
EOIR released the current median unaccompanied child (UAC) case completion and case pending time. In FY2019, the median pending time was 867 days and the median completion time was 610 days.
EOIR Released FY2019 Statistics on UAC Cases Pending More than Three Years
EOIR released FY2019 statistics on current unaccompanied children cases that have been pending for more than three years. As of the end of FY2019, 28,478 cases were pending.
USCIS Releases Report on Approximate Active DACA Recipients
USCIS released a report on the number of people with a DACA expiration date on or after 9/30/19. The report also contains the number of pending DACA renewal applications, approximate active DACA recipients by country of birth, state or territory of residence, gender, and age group.
EOIR Released Asylum Decision Rates by Nationality in Cases Originating with a Credible Fear Claim for FY2019
EOIR released asylum decision rates (grants, denials, administrative closure, and other) in cases that originated with a credible fear claim, broken down by the nationality of applicants for FY2019 (through 9/30/19).
BIA Holds Oregon Theft Not a CIMT Prior to Matter of Diaz-Lizarraga
Unpublished BIA decision holds that convictions for second degree theft in Oregon entered prior to Matter of Diaz-Lizarraga, 26 I&N Dec. 847 (BIA 2016) do not qualify as crimes involving moral turpitude. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Gordon-Flores, 9/30/19)
BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Due To Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order based on ineffective assistance where respondent’s attorney was later suspended by state bar and found to have committed professional misconduct while representing respondent. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Salas, 9/27/19)
BIA Terminates Proceedings Following Late-Filed Criminal Appeal
Unpublished BIA decision terminates proceedings under Matter of J.M. Acosta in light of late-filed but pending appeal challenging underlying criminal conviction on basis of ineffective assistance of counsel. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Mejia Peralta, 9/27/19)
District Court Enjoins ICE from Issuing Detainers Based on Error-Filled Databases
The court issued a permanent injunction enjoining ICE from issuing detainers based solely on database searches that rely upon information from sources that lack sufficient indicia of reliability for a probable cause determination for removal. (Gonzalez, et al. v. ICE, et al., 9/27/19)
AILA Sends Letter Requesting Information and Access to Port Courts
AILA sent a letter to various government agencies requesting information and access to tent court facilities to observe immigration court hearings.
DOJ’s Immigration Court Practice Manual (Updated on 9/26/19)
The Office of the Chief Immigration Judge updated its Immigration Court Practice Manual, a comprehensive guide on uniform procedures, recommendations, and requirements for practice before Immigration Courts.
BIA Reopens Proceedings Sua Sponte for Respondent to Seek Parole in Place
Unpublished BIA decision reopens proceedings sua sponte for respondent to apply for parole in place based on his marriage to a member of the armed forces. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Neves-Da Silveira, 9/26/19)
BIA Dismisses Appeal After Finding §124.401(5) of the Iowa Code Is Divisible Because a Specific Drug Is Involved
The BIA found respondent to be removable as §124.401(5) of the Iowa Code is divisible as to the specific drug involved and upheld the IJ’s application of the modified categorical approach to determine that the drug was methamphetamine. Matter of Gonzalez Lemus, 27 I&N Dec. 612 (BIA 2019)
AILA Submits an Amicus Brief to the First Circuit on the Two-Step Notice Process
AILA submitted an amicus brief to the First Circuit in Boutriq v. Barr, arguing that the BIA’s conclusion of the two-step process triggers the stop-time rule conflicts with the statute’s unambiguous text and unreasonably departs from the consistent recognition that a NTA is a single document.
District Court Says Asylum Seekers at Buffalo Federal Detention Facility Are No Longer Entitled to Bond Hearings After Six Months
A New York district court held that after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Jennings v. Rodriguez, ICE is no longer required to give individualized bond hearings to noncitizens detained for more than six months and decertified the subclass. (Abdi, et al. v. McAleenan, et al., 9/24/19)
CA2 Says Second-Degree Assault with a Deadly Weapon in New York Is an Aggravated Felony Crime of Violence
The court concluded that the petitioner’s conviction for second-degree assault with a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument under New York Penal Law (NYPL) §120.05(2) was an aggravated felony crime of violence under 18 USC §16(a). (Singh v. Barr, 9/24/19)
AILA Submits Comments on Expanding the Categories of Persons Designated Eligible for Expedited Removal
AILA submitted comments in response to DHS’s notice expanding the categories of persons designated eligible for expedited removal (ER). AILA raised concerns about how the process is already fundamentally flawed and requested that DHS address the long-standing problems of ER and halt the expansion.
Board of Immigration Appeals Practice Manual (9/23/19)
The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) provided an updated Practice Manual (last revised on September 23, 2019). This manual describes procedures, requirements, and recommendations for practice before the BIA.
BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Issued Day After End of Government Shutdown
Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order against respondent who was told the day the government shutdown ended that the immigration court would remain closed the following day. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Bennet, 9/23/19)
DHS Issues Statement on Safety and Enforcement During Tropical Depression Imelda
DHS announced that there will be no immigration enforcement initiatives associated with evacuations or sheltering related to Tropical Depression Imelda in southeast Texas, except in the event of a serious public safety threat.
Advocacy Groups File Lawsuit Challenging Trump Administration’s New Expedited Removal Policy
The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the Trump Administration’s July 23, 2019, rule that dramatically expands the reach of expedited removal. (Centro Presente, Inc. et al., v. McAleenan, et al., 9/20/19)
AILA Submits an Amicus Brief on the Two-Step Notice Process
AILA submitted an amicus brief in Barillas v. Barr arguing that the BIA’s conclusion that the two-step process triggers the stop-time rule conflicts with the statute’s unambiguous text and turns on the content of a single document without consideration of prior agency decision.
Featured Issue: USCIS’s Elimination of Non-Military Deferred Action at Local USCIS Offices
Learn more about USCIS's decision to eliminate non-military deferred action and DHS’s reestablishment of these types of requests on a discretionary, case-by-case basis.
BIA Holds Pennsylvania Simple Assault Not a CIMT
Unpublished BIA decision holds that simple assault under 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. 2701(a)(3) is not a CIMT because it does not require specific intent to place another in actual imminent danger. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Brissett, 9/20/19)
EOIR Releases FY2019 Data on Complaints Against Immigration Judges
EOIR released information on complaints against immigration judges, including complaints from FY2015-FY2019, number and percentage of IJs against whom complaints were received, the nature of complaints opened, sources of complaints, and methods of disposition for complaints closed.