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
Arguing Against Pretermission of Asylum Cases in Immigration Court
This practice pointer outlines legal arguments for challenging pretermission of asylum applications for clients in removal proceedings. This comes after EOIR's recent policy memo, PM 22-28, published on April 11, 2025.
CA2 Finds That District Court Lacked Jurisdiction to Review USCIS’s Denial of Adjustment of Status Application
The court held that a denial of an application for adjustment of status under INA §245 is a “judgment” for purposes of INA §242(a)(2)(B)(i), regardless of whether it is issued by an immigration court or USCIS. (Xia v. Bondi, 5/19/25)
Practice Alert: Reports of BIA Setting Briefing Deadlines in ECAS Without Issuing Briefing Schedule
Members report seeing BIA briefing deadlines appear in ECAS without the issuance of a briefing schedule. AILA is urging members to check ECAS on all pending BIA cases.
BIA Finds Respondent Was Detained under INA §235(b) and Ineligible for Release on Bond
The BIA held that an applicant for admission who is arrested and detained without a warrant while arriving in the United States and then placed in removal proceedings is detained under INA §235(b) and ineligible for release on bond under INA §236(a). Matter of Q. Li, 29 I&N Dec. 66 (BIA 2025)
Presidential Proclamation Establishing “Project Homecoming”
On 5/9/25, President Trump signed a proclamation that creates a process for departure for undocumented immigrants using the CBP Home app, provides government-funded flights and an exit bonus, directs DHS to increase its enforcement and removal operations force, and more. (90 FR 20357, 5/14/25)
ICE Official Guidance for "Unaccompanied Alien Children Join Initiative, Field Implementation"
ICE guidance for "Unaccompanied Alien Children Joint Initiative, Field Implementation". Outlines phases of implementing the joint DHS-ICE-HSI initiative to locate UACs who have not had contact with HHS-ORR since being released from their custody.
AILA Submits Comment Opposing Reduction of the BIA
AILA submitted a public comment today, opposing the April 14th, 2025 announcement that the BIA would be reduced to just 15 members while there is currently a historic backlog.
Practice Alert: OPLA to Begin Filing Motions to Reopen Administratively Closed Cases
AILA received reports that ICE OPLA will begin filing motions to recalendar in all cases that were previously administratively closed.
DOJ Files Emergency Request to SCOTUS to End Injunction Halting Deportations
DOJ filed an emergency application to the U.S. Supreme Court asking the Court to end a temporary injunction issued 4/19/25 halting the deportation of immigrants detained pursuant to the Alien Enemies Act (AEA). (A.A.R.P. et al. v. Trump, et al., 5/12/25)
CA8 Upholds Motion to Remand Denial Where Petitioner Failed to Establish Prima Facie Case for Cancellation Eligibility
The court upheld BIA’s finding that petitioner failed to establish a prima facie case of eligibility for cancellation of removal where he offered no evidence that his removal would cause exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to his U.S.-citizen daughter. (Soto-Santos v. Bondi, 5/12/25)
CA8 Holds That Petitioner Failed to Show Procedural Error or Prejudice in Challenging IJ’s Competency Finding
The court denied the petition for review, concluding that the BIA did not err in affirming the IJ’s competency finding at the petitioner’s merits hearing based on sufficient evidence of competency and no showing of fundamental error or any resulting prejudice. (Mohamed v. Bondi, 5/12/25)
EOIR Issues Policy Memo with an Addendum to Previous Policy Memo
On 5/9/25, EOIR Acting Director Sirce Owen issued Policy Memorandum (PM) 25-31, “Addendum to Policy Memorandum 25-30,” providing additional guidance regarding clerical transfers of cases between non-detained and detained dockets, and clarifying section VI of PM 25-30, “Clerical Transfers.”
CA5 Holds That Petitioner’s Texas Conviction for Online Solicitation of a Minor Is “Crime of Child Abuse”
The court upheld the BIA’s determination that petitioner’s Texas conviction for online solicitation of a minor rendered him removable under INA §237(a)(2)(E)(i) for committing a “crime of child abuse,” and upheld BIA’s denial of his motion to reconsider. (Sandoval Argueta v. Bondi, 5/9/25)
CA9 Holds That Petitioner’s California Assault Conviction Was a Particularly Serious Crime
The court held that the BIA did not abuse its discretion in finding that the petitioner’s assault conviction was a particularly serious crime rendering him ineligible for withholding relief, and that the BIA did not err in denying his CAT claim. (G.C. v. Bondi, 7/30/24, amended 5/8/25)
Practice Alert: EOIR Is Circulating Misleading Legal Advisories to Respondents
On or about April 14, 2025, AILA began receiving reports of new flyers posted in EOIR courts nationwide that list several confusing and misleading statements as to the purported “benefits” and “consequences” of self-deportation for those in removal proceedings.
DHS Announces Travel Assistance and Stipend for Voluntary Self-Deportation
DHS announced that undocumented immigrants can receive financial and travel assistance to facilitate travel back to their home country through the CBP Home App, and can also receive a stipend of $1,000 dollars paid after their return to their home country has been confirmed through the app.
AILA Statement: Trump Administration Lays Trap with Self-Deportation Offer
In response to the DHS announcement of a “stipend” for people choosing to self-deport from the United States, AILA cautioned individuals noting that “No one should accept this without first obtaining good legal advice from an immigration attorney or other qualified representative.”
District Court Permanently Blocks Deportations of Alleged Venezuelan Gang Members under AEA
A Texas federal district court permanently enjoined the Trump Administration from deporting alleged gang members from Venezuela under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), finding the gang’s conduct within the United States does not constitute an “invasion.” (J.A.V. et al. v. Trump et al., 5/1/25)
ICE Press Release on Operation Tidal Wave in Florida
ICE announced that it led a statewide operation in Florida 4/21/25 through 4/26/25 that resulted in 1,120 arrests of undocumented individuals. ICE states that 63 percent of those arrested had existing criminal arrests or convictions.
CA4 Holds That Petitioner’s Massachusetts Unarmed Assault Conviction Was an Aggravated Felony
The court concluded that the petitioner’s Massachusetts unarmed assault conviction was categorically an aggravated felony attempted theft offense under the INA, rendering the petitioner removable under INA §237(a)(2)(A)(iii). (Baptista v. Bondi, 5/1/25)
Practice Alert: ICE to Start Notifying Attorneys When Detained Clients are Transferred
Beginning May 1, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will send attorneys, EOIR-accredited representatives, and law students automatic notices when their clients are transferred between facilities.
CA4 Upholds Denial of Cancellation Where IJ Found Petitioner Lacked Good Moral Character Based on Catchall Provision
The court held that substantial evidence supported the IJ’s decision finding that the petitioner lacked good moral character based on the catchall provision in INA §101(f), and thus that he was ineligible for cancellation of removal pursuant to INA §240A(b). (Ibarra v. Bondi, 4/29/25)
DHS Provides a Privacy Impact Assessment for CPB Home
DHS released a Privacy Impact Assessment addressing privacy risks in the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of the CBP Home application information.
CA1 Holds That BIA Erred by Relying on IJ’s Inadequate Nexus Analysis as to Ecuadorian Petitioner’s Asylum Claim
The court held that the BIA erred by not applying de novo review to the IJ’s ultimate nexus determination and by not recognizing or correcting the IJ’s failure to conduct the appropriate mixed-motivation nexus analysis in reaching its decision. (Mayancela Guaman v. Bondi, 4/28/25)
Featured Issue: Practicing under the New Trump Administration
This page curates resources from AILA and other organizations that members may find helpful as they adapt to practicing under the new Trump Administration.