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
Immigration Law Advisor, July 2017 (Vol. 11, No. 5)
The July 2017 issue of Immigration Law Advisor includes an article on the evolution of the INA’s drug removability statutes pre- and post-Mellouli v. Lynch and a discussion of issues not resolved, as well as summaries of recent circuit court decisions and BIA precedent decisions.
AILA: House Bills Give Hope to Dreamers, but DACA Still in Danger
AILA praised the Dream Act of 2017 and the American Hope Act introduced in the House, both of which “would provide young people, who were brought to this country as children and grew up in the United States, the chance to apply for lawful permanent residence, and eventually apply for citizenship.”
H.R. 3591: American Hope Act of 2017
On 7/28/17, Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) introduced the American Hope Act of 2017, which would provide young people, who were brought to this country as children and grew up in the United States, the chance to apply for lawful permanent residence. The bill has over 110 cosponsors.
BIA Reverses EWI Finding in Light of Respondent’s Credible Testimony
Unpublished BIA decision reverses finding that respondent was present without being admitted or paroled in light of his credible testimony that he last entered the country with a border crossing card. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of I-M-G-, 7/28/17)
BIA Holds Florida Arson Statute Is Not a Crime of Violence
Unpublished BIA decision holds that arson under Fla. Stat. 806.01(2) is not a crime of violence under 18 USC §16 because it prohibits the intentional causing of a fire or explosion against one’s own property. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Kotowski, 7/27/17)
Democratic Senators Call on President Trump to Protect Dreamers
On 7/27/17, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) and Minority Whip Dick Durbin (IL) along with 40 Democratic senators called on President Trump to protect Dreamers by using his executive authority to the greatest extent possible to protect the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
CA2 Finds “Stop-Time Rule” Prevented Petitioner from Accruing Seven Years of Continuous Residency in the United States
The court held that the petitioner’s 1999 conviction for marijuana possession triggered the “stop-time rule,” preventing him from accruing the required seven years of continuous residency in the United States for cancellation of removal purposes. (Gomez Heredia v. Sessions, 7/27/17)
CA1 Upholds Denial of Asylum Claim Based on Changed Country Conditions in Mexico
The court held that the record did not support petitioner’s claim that crime and violence perpetrated by drug trafficking organizations in Mexico represented changed conditions from the time of his merits hearing to the time he filed his motion to reopen. (Sanchez-Romero v. Sessions, 7/26/17)
H.R. 3440: Dream Act of 2017
On 7/26/17, Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) introduced the House version of the Dream Act of 2017, which would provide young people who were brought to the U.S. as children, the chance to apply for LPR status, if they meet certain requirements.
BIA Reverses Denial of Motion to Change Venue from Atlanta to Arlington
Unpublished BIA decision reverses denial of motion to change venue from Atlanta to Arlington, noting that the respondent, her attorney, and her witnesses all lived in Virginia. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of C-D-L-G-, 7/26/17)
BIA Holds Arizona Statute Is Not a Firearms Offense
Unpublished BIA decision holds that misconduct involving weapons under Ariz. Rev. Stat. 13-3102(A)(4) is not a firearms offense because it prohibits possession knives and nunchaku. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of R-S-A-, 7/25/17)
CA7 Finds Salvadoran Asylum Applicant Failed to Show Nexus Between Persecution and Proposed Social Groups
The court held that the Salvadoran petitioner did not meet his burden of demonstrating a nexus between the alleged persecution he faced from gang members in El Salvador and his proposed social groups of wealthy deportees or gang resisters. (Orellana-Arias v. Sessions, 7/25/17)
CA1 Remands for Reconsideration of Whether Petitioner’s Massachusetts ABDW Conviction Is Categorically a CIMT
The court vacated the BIA’s decision determining that the Massachusetts crime of assault and battery (ABDW) with a dangerous weapon is categorically a crime involving moral turpitude under the INA, and remanded for further consideration. (Coelho v. Sessions, 7/24/17)
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rules Against Use of Immigration Detainers
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that Massachusetts law provides no authority for holding an individual solely on the basis of a federal civil immigration detainer beyond the time that the individual would otherwise be entitled to be released. (Lunn v. Commonwealth, 7/24/17)
CA9 Upholds BIA’s Denial of Withholding of Removal and CAT Relief to Former Police Officer in Mongolia
The court upheld BIA’s determination that the Mongolian petitioner was targeted because of his role in a drug-trafficking investigation, and not on account of his political opinion, his purported whistleblowing activity, or his status as a former police officer. (Sanjaa v. Sessions, 7/21/17)
BIA Says “Specified Offense Against a Minor” Can Involve Undercover Officer Posing as a Minor
The BIA held that an offense may be a “specified offense against a minor” within the meaning of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, even if it involved an undercover police officer posing as a minor, rather than an actual minor. Matter of Izaguirre, 27 I&N Dec. 67 (BIA 2017)
Twenty Attorneys General Ask President Trump to Keep DACA Program
Attorneys general from 19 states and DC sent a letter to President Trump urging him to maintain and defend the DACA program, stating, “We urge you to affirm America’s values and tradition as a nation of immigrants and make clear that you will not only continue DACA, but that you will defend it.”
AILA Welcomes Bipartisan Dream Act of 2017; Calls on Congress and the Administration to Protect Dreamers
AILA welcomes the introduction of the Dream Act of 2017, a bipartisan bill authored by Senators Lindsey Graham and Dick Durbin, that would provide young people who were brought to the U.S. as children a chance to apply for lawful permanent residence if they meet certain requirements.
S. 1615: Dream Act of 2017
On 7/20/17, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced the bipartisan Dream Act of 2017, which would provide young people who were brought to this country as children and grew up in the U.S., the chance to apply for lawful permanent residence, if they meet certain requirements.
AILA Quicktake #210: Dream Act of 2017 Introduced
AILA Director of Government Relations Greg Chen shares why the Dream Act of 2017, introduced by Senators Lindsey Graham and Dick Dubrin, is important. He also discusses details of the bill and what AILA members can do.
Section by Section of the Dream Act of 2017
Section-by-section of the Dream Act of 2017, a bipartisan bill introduced by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Dick Durbin (D-IL).
CA7 Finds Petitioner’s Illinois Conviction for Possessing Between 30 and 500 Grams of Marijuana Is Not an Aggravated Felony
The court held that the BIA misapplied the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Moncrieffe v. Holder when it characterized the petitioner’s conviction under ILCS §550/5(d) for possessing between 30 and 500 grams of marijuana as an aggravated felony. (Chen v. Sessions, 7/20/17)
ICE Arrests 400th Foreign Fugitive in FY2017
ICE announced that it conducted its 400th foreign fugitive arrest in FY2017. According to ICE, the majority of FY2017’s 400 foreign fugitive arrests took place in New York, New Jersey, California, Florida, Arizona, and Texas.
There’s Always More to Learn
When I first began practicing law, I thought I knew everything I could ever need to know about immigration. I'd been a business immigration paralegal for several years before law school and had learned a lot about nonimmigrant visas and employment-based green cards. I'd assisted with processing th
Sign-On Letter Calling on Congress to Oppose ICE’s Funding Request
On 7/18/17, AILA joined nearly 200 other organizations in urging members of Congress to oppose ICE’s 6/30/17 request for a reprogramming of funds to cover detention costs for the remainder of FY2017.