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
BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Against Respondent Who Regularly Reported to ICE
Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order against respondent who displayed diligence in seeking reopening and regularly reported to ICE after being released on recognizance. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Bustillo-Marquez, 6/19/19)
CA2 Finds New York Conviction for Child Endangerment Is a Crime of Child Abuse Under INA §237(a)(2)(E)(i)
Deferring to its precedent, the court found that the BIA’s definition of a crime of child abuse includes child endangerment offenses, and held that the New York law under which petitioner had been convicted was categorically a crime of child abuse under the INA. (Matthews v. Barr, 6/18/19)
AILA and Partners Submit Amicus Brief on Detention During Withholding-Only Proceedings
AILA and other groups submit an amicus brief to the Eleventh Circuit in Radzhabov v. Barr urging the court to affirm the district court’s decision and find that 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) governs detention during withholding-only proceedings and thus these individuals have a right to a bond hearing.
TRAC Report Finds That Most Released Families Attend Immigration Court Hearings
Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) found that, as of 5/19, of the 47,000 families seeking asylum, almost six out of seven families released from custody showed up for their initial court hearing. For families with legal representation, appearance rates were as high as 99.9 percent.
EOIR Announces New Chief Administrative Law Judge
EOIR announced the investiture of Jean King as the chief administrative law judge in EOIR’s Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer. Ms. King served as general counsel of EOIR prior to assuming her current duties.
The Real Alternatives to Detention
AILA, Women's Refugee Commission, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, National Immigrant Justice Center, and Migration and Refugee Services provide a backgrounder about cost-efficient alternatives to detention (ATD).
CA1 Upholds Asylum Denial to Salvadoran Woman Who Stated She Was Unable to Leave Domestic Relationship
The court upheld BIA’s vacatur of the IJ’s decision granting petitioner and her children asylum, holding that the record was insufficient as a matter of law to support the IJ’s factual finding that the petitioner fit within her proposed social group. (Rivas-Durán, et al. v. Barr, 6/17/19)
District Court Grants Writ of Habeas Corpus Where Petitioner’s Initial Detention Lacked Written Notice and Service
The district court granted a writ of habeas corpus to petitioner, finding that his detention was unconstitutional because he was not served with any Notice of Reinstatement and never received written notice prior to or immediately after his detention. (Martinez v. McAleenan, et al., 6/14/19)
CA4 Reverses BIA’s Determination on Nexus Requirement for Asylum and Withholding of Removal
The court vacated the denial of petitioner’s asylum and withholding of removal claims, reversed the BIA’s determination that the petitioner had failed to establish the required nexus between her persecution and her proposed protected statuses, and remanded. (Alvarez Lagos v. Barr, 6/14/19)
D.C. Circuit Court Affirms Preliminary Injunction Against Blanket Denial of Abortion Access for UACs
The court affirmed the preliminary injunction against the government’s blanket denial of access to abortion for unaccompanied minors (UACs), but vacated the injunction’s prohibition against disclosing a UAC’s pregnancy and abortion decision. (J.D., et al. v. Alex Azar, II, et al., 6/14/19)
CA9 Says ICE Cannot Carry Out Preplanned Mass Detentions, Interrogations, and Arrests Without Individualized Reasonable Suspicion
The court granted the petition for review, holding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were not permitted to carry out preplanned mass detentions, interrogations, and arrests at a factory without individualized reasonable suspicion. (Perez Cruz v. Barr, 6/13/19)
BIA Finds IJ Should Have Granted Continuance for Attorney Preparation
Unpublished BIA decision reverses denial of continuance where counsel was hired less than a month before merits hearing and IJ’s assistant did not return messages asking to review record of proceedings. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Vargas Salgado, 6/13/19)
BIA Holds Oregon Aggravated Identity Theft Not a CIMT
Unpublished BIA decision holds that Oregon aggravated identity theft is not a CIMT because it applies to individuals who merely provide false identification to law enforcement with the intent to evade arrest. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Naranjo-Pairol, 6/13/19)
CA9 Finds Resident of CNMI Is Removable Because of Binding Precedent
The court concluded that, because it must follow the court’s binding precedent involving immigrants residing in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), the petitioner was removable and ineligible for cancellation of removal. (Torres v. Barr, 6/12/19)
CA1 Upholds Asylum and CAT Denials to Mexican Petitioner Who Filed Untimely Asylum Application
The court held that it lacked jurisdiction to review the BIA’s ruling on the petitioner’s asylum claim, and found that the petitioner had provided the court with no basis for overturning the BIA’s ruling on his Convention Against Torture (CAT) claim. (Rodriguez-Palacios v. Barr, 6/12/19)
CA1 Finds Petitioner Failed to Make Colorable Claim That BIA Erred in Adopting IJ’s Findings
The court dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction, finding that the petitioner had failed to raise a colorable claim of constitutional or legal error when he challenged the denial of his application for cancellation of removal under INA §240A(b). (Perez v. Barr, 6/12/19)
DOJ OIG Releases Audit Report on DOJ’s Use of Immigration Sponsorship Programs
The DOJ OIG released a report on DOJ's use of immigration sponsorship programs including significant public benefit parole, deferred action, the S Visa, and PL-110. The report examined DOJ components’ oversight of sponsorship activities and information management and coordination.
The Attorney General's Judges: How the U.S. Immigration Courts Became a Deportation Tool
Innovation Law Lab and the Southern Poverty Law Center released a report on the current state of the U.S. immigration courts and examines the system's collapse and explains why "it cannot be salvaged in its current form."
Supplement Complaint Demands Government Action on Inadequate Medical Care in Colorado Detention Center
On June 11, 2019, the American Immigration Council and AILA supplemented a complaint originally filed in June 2018 highlighting numerous examples of inadequate medical care in the Denver Contract Detention Facility, an immigration detention center in Aurora, Colorado.
BIA Dismisses Appeal and Issues Decision on “Realistic Probability”
The BIA discussed the interplay between state and federal drug laws, finding respondent did not establish a realistic probability that the state would apply the statute to an offense involving a substance that was not federally controlled. Matter of Guadarrama, 27 I&N Dec. 560 (BIA 2019)
New Resource: Removal Defense Skills “Conference-In-A-Box"
The Immigration Justice Campaign has put together a "conference-in-a-box": everything an AILA chapter would need to host an intensive one or one-and-a-half-day-long removal defense skills workshop. The Campaign is making these materials available for free to AILA chapters!
BIA Vacates Removal Order Entered Against Pro Se Respondent at First Master Calendar Hearing
Unpublished BIA decision vacates removal order against pro se respondent who was ordered removed at first hearing and received no opportunity to testify about his reasons for not wanting to leave the United States. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Cota-Morris, 6/11/19)
BIA Reopens Proceedings Sua Sponte Following Ninth Circuit Decision on Stop-Time Rule
Unpublished BIA decision reopens proceedings sua sponte to seek LPR cancellation of removal following Lopez v. Barr, 925 F.3d 396 (9th Cir. 2019), holding that hearing notice itself cannot trigger stop-time rule. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Rodriguez-Echeverria, 6/11/19)
BIA Terminates Proceedings Because Respondent Was Naturalized Citizen at Time of Conviction
Unpublished BIA decision terminates proceedings under Okpala v. Whitaker, 908 F.3d 965 (5th Cir. 2018), because respondent was a naturalized citizen at the time of the conviction giving rise to the charge of removability. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Ogoti, 6/10/19)
BIA Terminates Proceedings Since Respondent Was a Naturalized Citizen at Time of Conviction
Unpublished BIA decision holds termination of proceedings is warranted because respondent was not removable due to the fact that he was a naturalized citizen at the time of his conviction and that Okpala is controlling. Courtesy of Imran Mirza. (Matter of Ogoti, 6/10/19)