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.
| Pre Jan 20, 2025 Status | Current Status |
|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Browse the Featured Issue: Representing Clients Before ICE collection
EOIR Releases Data on Complaints Against Immigration Judges (FY2015)
EOIR released information on complaints against immigration judges, including number/percentage of IJs against whom complaints were received between FY2011 and FY2015, as well as the nature of complaints opened, sources of complaints, and methods of disposition for complaints closed during FY2015.
CA7 Remands, Cites Multiple IJ/BIA Errors Regarding Particular Social Group Determinations
The court overturned IJ/BIA, finding petitioner’s membership in cognizable social group, “members of his nuclear family”—referring to family of Mara 18 forced recruit who fled—was one central reason for harm; nexus requirement for asylum and withholding was met. (W.G.A v. Sessions, 8/21/18)
DOJ Announces Removal to Germany of Former Nazi Labor Camp Guard
DOJ announced that in coordination with DHS and DOS, Jakiw Palij, a former Nazi labor camp guard in German-occupied Poland, was removed to Germany. Palij had become a U.S. citizen in 1957 and resided in Queens, New York. His citizenship was revoked in 2003, and he was ordered removed in 2004.
CA6 Denies Respondent’s Petition for Review and Is Thus Removable
The court held that the BIA properly applied Pennsylvania case law to determine the divisibility of the state statute of conviction, and properly applied the modified categorical approach to conclude it qualified under INA §212(a)(2)(A). (Raja v. Sessions, 8/21/18)
CA7 Remands, Finding BIA Erred in Disagreeing with Expert Opinion in CAT Removal Determination
The court found that the BIA did not offer any reasonable basis for disagreeing with expert opinion corroborating petitioner’s fear of torture from Los Zetas for losing hundreds of thousands of dollars of contraband, if removed to Mexico. (Rivas-Pena v. Sessions, 8/21/18)
Bivens Basics: An Introductory Guide for Immigration Attorneys
With constitutional violations by DHS officers on the rise, learn the basics of how to litigate a Bivens claim in federal court in the immigration context in this Practice Advisory from the American Immigration Council.
BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order After Hearing Notice Sent to Attorney Who Did Not Enter Appearance
Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order because the hearing notice was sent to an attorney who did not submit an entry of appearance with the immigration court. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Phung, 8/21/18)
President Trump Delivers Letter to State and Local Leaders About ICE and CBP
President Trump delivered a letter to state and local leaders in the United States urging them to support and work with ICE and CBP.
AILA Submits Amicus Brief on Tenth Circuit’s Ruling on Various Forms of Relief from Removal
AILA submitted an amicus brief, filed with the Tenth Circuit, summarizing the implications of the Tenth Circuit’s ruling on removal relief.
AILA Quicktake #249: Attorney General’s Decision in Matter of L-A-B-R-
Greg Chen, AILA's Director of Government Relations, discusses the Attorney General’s decision in Matter of L-A-B-R-, which limits the discretion of the immigration judges to grant continuances.
DHS Issues Press Release About ICE’s Mission
DHS issued a press release about the mission of ICE and its various components.
BIA Holds Pennsylvania Simple Assault Not a Crime of Violence or CIMT
Unpublished BIA decision holds that simple assault under 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. §2701(a)(1) is not divisible and thus not a crime of violence or CIMT. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Perez-Herrera, 8/20/18)
CA9 Denies in Part, Affirming No Equal Protection or Due Process Violations in Rejection of Citizenship Claim; Grants in Part, Remanding for Cancellat
The court held §1433 does not implicate a protected class and disparate treatment of citizen parents of adopted foreign-born children (proactive petition for citizenship) is rationally related to legitimate governmental interest; thus, no EP violation. (Dent v. Sessions, 8/17/18)
Trump Administration Further Undermines Judicial Independence
AILA responds to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision in Matter of L-A-B-R-, which limits the discretion of immigration judges to grant continuances.
Retired IJs and Former Members of the BIA Issue Statement in Response to Matter of L-A-B-R-
On August 17, 2018, retired immigration judges (IJs) and former members of the BIA issued a statement in response to the Attorney General’s decision in Matter of L-A-B-R-. The statement characterizes the decision as a “blow to judicial independence.”
BIA Holds Making False Statement to Firearms Dealer Not a Firearms Offense
Unpublished BIA decision holds that making false statement to firearms dealer under 18 USC §924(a)(1)(A) is a not a firearms offense because it applies to dealers who falsify their own records. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Lopez, 8/17/18)
Attorney General States IJs May Only Grant Continuances “For Good Cause Shown”
The Attorney General (AG) found that an IJ may only grant a continuance “for good cause shown” and outlined the good-cause standard. Further, the AG vacated the Board’s orders declining to entertain these appeals and remanded. Matter of L-A-B-R-, et al., 27 I&N Dec. 405 (A.G. 2018)
EOIR Announces Reduction of Hiring Times By More Than 50 Percent
EOIR announced the investiture of 23 new immigration judges, which increased the total number of immigration judges to 351. Some of the immigration judges sworn-in were hired in approximately 266 days, down from an average of 742 days just one year ago.
Lawsuit Filed on Behalf of Parents Who Waived Right of Their Children to Pursue Asylum Claims
The court held plaintiffs likely to succeed on mandamus claim for independent right to seek asylum; that parents did not knowingly waive minor’s asylum rights; and plaintiffs met irreparable injury, balance of equities, and public interest requirements for TRO. (M.M.M. v. Sessions, 8/16/18)
EOIR Swears in 23 Immigration Judges
EOIR announced the investiture of 23 immigration judges and provided biographies of these new immigration judges.
Bipartisan Senate Report on UACs Finds Agencies Haven’t Taken Sufficient Responsibility
The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations issued a report, finding that HHS and DHS have taken steps towards improving the care of UACs, but that they “still do not take sufficient responsibility for guarding their safety and ensuring they appear at their immigration court proceedings.”
CA1 Vacates BIA Denial of MTR for Failure to Consider Changed Country Conditions
The court held that the BIA abused its discretion by failing to consider petitioner’s new material evidence regarding treatment of evangelical Christians in Indonesia since 2008; it vacated the denial and remanded the case. (Sihotang v. Sessions, 8/15/18)
HHS Notice of Intent to Fund 700 Additional Beds to Keep Unaccompanied Children in Custody
HHS (Department of Health and Human Services) notice of intent to provide up to $19,011,218 of funding for 700 beds to keep unaccompanied children in custody. (83 FR 40519, 8/15/18)
CA8 Denies Jurisdiction to Review Changed Circumstances Based Claim for Late Asylum Filing
The court held that the IJ/BIA determination of lack of changed circumstances was a finding of fact, not a statutory interpretation; thus, there was no question of law to trigger its jurisdiction to review untimely asylum application. (Burka v. Sessions, 8/14/18)
CA9 Holds Bivens Damages Can Apply for Fifth Amendment Procedural Due Process Violation Arising in Immigration Context
The court held a Bivens remedy applies when ICE prosecutor forged an I-826 voluntary departure document that broke continuous presence, which precluded petitioner from receiving cancellation for which he otherwise qualified, violating his due process rights. (Lanuza v. Love, 8/14/18)