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
DOJ Request for Comments on Proposed Revisions to Form EOIR-56
DOJ request for comments on proposed revisions to Form EOIR-56, Request to be Included on the List of Pro Bono Legal Service Providers for Individuals in Immigration Proceedings, which EOIR seeks to replace with an electronic system. Comments are due 8/25/17. (82 FR 28906, 6/26/17)
CA8 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Nigerian Who Asserted Supernatural Forces Inflicted Harm on Him
The court denied the petition for review, holding that the supernatural harms petitioner described were not persecution because they were not inflicted by the government or private parties that the Nigerian government was unable to control. (Edionseri v. Sessions, 6/26/17)
New World Requires New Strategies
I had heard a rumor that it was a fire-able offense for anyone in Ira Kurzban's firm to concede a conviction in immigration court. So while talking to Ira at a conference once, I asked him if it was true. He informed me I had heard wrong. He explained that it is a fire-able offense […]
CA9 Reopens Proceedings to Reconsider CAT Claim Due to Changed Country Conditions in Ethiopia
The court granted the petition for review and remanded, holding that the BIA abused its discretion by disregarding or discrediting undisputed new evidence submitted by the petitioner regarding increased violence toward homosexuals in Ethiopia. (Agonafer v. Sessions, 6/23/17)
CA1 Upholds Denial of Withholding of Removal to Petitioner Who Feared Gangs in Guatemala
The court held that substantial evidence supported the BIA’s findings that the petitioner did not establish that she would likely be harmed by criminal gangs in Guatemala based upon an enumerated ground. (Marroquín-Rivera v. Sessions, 6/23/17)
Supreme Court Remands Immigrant’s Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Case to Circuit Court
The Supreme Court remanded the case to the Sixth Circuit, which had rejected the ineffective assistance of counsel claim of an LPR ordered deported after pleading guilty to a charge that constituted an aggravated felony on the advice of his attorney. (Lee v. United States, 6/23/17)
Guardians of our Constitution
Adapted from the installation speech of Annaluisa Padilla, 2017-18 President of AILA
Senators Letter to Appropriations Committee on DHS’s FY2018 Appropriations Bill
On 6/22/17, nineteen senators sent a letter to the Senate Committee on Appropriations requesting a reduction in funding for President Trump's detention beds and deportation force, and asked that no funding be made available for a wall along the southern border.
H.R. 3003: No Sanctuary for Criminals Act
On 6/22/17, Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) introduced the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act (H.R. 3003), a bill that would toughen penalties for so-called "sanctuary cities."
H.R. 3004: Kate's Law
On 6/22/17, Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) introduced Kate's Law (H.R. 3004), which would increase penalties for individuals who illegally reenter the United States.
EOIR Reminder Regarding EOIR’s Fraud and Abuse Prevention Program
EOIR issued a reminder on the role of EOIR’s Fraud and Abuse Prevention Program in safeguarding the validity of those proceedings and of the need for vigilance in combating immigration fraud. Since 2006, the program has handled more than 700 cases.
BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Against Respondents Who Checked In with ICE
Unpublished BIA decision finds respondents rebutted presumption of delivery by regular mail by willingly presenting themselves to ICE officers before and after entry of an in absentia order. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Gaspar-Tomas, 6/22/17)
BIA Holds Two-Week Continuance Not Sufficient Time to Find an Attorney
Unpublished BIA decision finds that IJ denied respondent’s right to counsel by providing only two weeks to find an attorney. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Santos-Gijon, 6/22/17)
Statement from DHS to Senate Judiciary on “the MS-13 Problem”
Statement from DHS for a hearing investigating gang membership as well as its nexus to illegal immigration, before the Senate Judiciary committee, including information on the treatment of unaccompanied children. Between FY2012 and FY2016, ICE removed a total of 10,188 UACs from the United States.
Practice Pointer: ICE Update on Prosecutorial Discretion Under the New Administration
AILA’s ICE Liaison Committee provides a practice pointer about the exercise of prosecutorial discretion under the Trump administration.
CA2 Finds Presumption Against Retroactive Legislation Bars Application of IIRAIRA to Petitioner’s Case
The court held that because the petitioner had committed his drug offense prior to IIRAIRA’s passage, he should not have been forced to seek admission to the United States after his brief vacation to the Dominican Republic in 2007. (Centurion v. Sessions, 6/21/17)
CA8 Upholds BIA’s Finding That Petitioner Has a Conviction for a CIMT Rendering Him Ineligible for Cancellation of Removal
The court held that because the petitioner’s probation, community service, and fines constituted court-imposed penalties under INA §101(a)(4), the BIA did not err in affirming the IJ’s finding that the petitioner has a conviction for aggravated forgery. (Mendoza-Saenz v. Sessions, 6/21/17)
CA2 Finds BIA Erred in Barring Cancellation and Asylum Applications of Petitioner Convicted Under NY Penal Law §220.31
The court granted in part the petition for review and applied the categorical approach to determine that the petitioner’s conviction under N.Y. Penal Law §220.31 did not constitute a drug‐trafficking aggravated felony. (Harbin v. Sessions, 6/21/17)
Sign-On Letter Calling on Congress to Oppose ICE and USCIS Authorization Bills
On 6/20/17, AILA joined 13 other organizations expressing opposition to House legislation that authorizes ICE and USCIS, because it would dramatically redirect funding towards enforcement functions and away from the customer service and benefits functions that are also vital to their missions.
BIA Holds Child Abuse Ground of Deportability Does Not Apply to Attempt Crimes
Unpublished BIA decision holds that attempt to endanger the welfare of a child under N.Y.P.L. 260.10 is not a crime of child abuse because INA §237(a)(2)(E)(i) only applies to completed crimes. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of B-Q-, 6/20/17)
AILA Presents Nora Elizabeth Phillips with the 2017 Michael Maggio Memorial Pro Bono Award
AILA will recognize Nora Elizabeth Phillips, of Los Angeles, CA, with the 2017 Michael Maggio Memorial Pro Bono Award, for outstanding efforts in providing pro bono representation in the immigration field, this week during AILA’s Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA.
The Trump Administration FY2018 Budget: Funding for a Massive Deportation Machine
AILA provided an analysis of the Trump administration’s budget request for FY2018. The proposed budget would fund increases in immigration enforcement and border security, which would enable the administration to deport thousands of people who pose no threat to public safety.
EOIR Swears in 11 Immigration Judges
The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) announced the investiture of 11 new immigration judges, bringing the agency’s total to 326. Deputy Chief Immigration Judge Print Maggard presided over the investiture during a ceremony held at EOIR headquarters in Falls Church, VA.
TRAC Data Shows Immigration Court Backlog Nears 600,000
The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) found that the latest data from the Immigration Courts show that as of 5/31/17, the backlog had risen to 598,943, whereas at the end of May 2016, the backlog stood at 492,978.
BIA Limits Application of Firm Resettlement Bar
Unpublished BIA decision holds that the firm resettlement bar does not apply to asylum applicants who fear persecution in the country of alleged resettlement. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of L-K-U-, 6/16/17)