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 Reopens Sua Sponte to Allow DACA Recipient to Travel on Advance Parole
Unpublished BIA decision reopens proceedings sua sponte to allow beneficiary of DACA program to travel abroad pursuant to grant of advance parole. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Colotl, 10/6/16)
CA2 Upholds Denial of Asylum Despite Errors in BIA's Underlying Analysis
The court held that although the BIA erred in finding that the petitioner testified inconsistently, the BIA's ultimate ruling was supported by substantial evidence, and the same decision would be made on remand. (Li v. Lynch, 10/5/16)
House Members Call on President Obama to Stop Haitian Deportations
On 10/5/16, more than 50 representatives urged President Obama to reconsider the resumption of non-criminal deportations to Haiti in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. They also asked for undocumented Haitians to be ensured full and fair asylum hearings and effective assistance of counsel.
CRS Report: U.S. Invokes Visa Sanctions under Section 243(d)
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a Legal Sidebar report explaining how the U.S. invoked “visa sanctions” under Section 243(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) against The Gambia for failing to accept the return of Gambian citizens and nationals removed from the U.S.
AAO Grants §212(i) Waiver for Extreme Hardship to USC Spouse of Citizen of Egypt
In a nonprecedent decision, the AAO found that the applicant proved he was eligible for a §212(i) waiver for fraud or misrepresentation by showing that his spouse would suffer extreme hardship if she relocated to Egypt. Courtesy of Eric Singer. Matter of A-M-M-G-, ID# 12378 (AAO Oct. 4, 2016)
Immigration Law Advisor, September-October 2016 (Vol. 10, No. 7)
The September-October 2016 issue of Immigration Law Advisor, a legal publication from EOIR, includes an article with a survey of case law addressing defenses against the “material-support” terrorism bar, as well as summaries of circuit court decisions from August 2016 and BIA precedent decisions.
BIA Says Pre-Conclusion Voluntary Departure Does Not Preclude Bond Appeal
Unpublished BIA decision holds that respondents need not waive appeal of denial of bond redetermination in order to accept pre-conclusion voluntary departure. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Nunez, 10/4/16)
AILA: SCOTUS Denies Rehearing in Deferred Action Case Leaving Millions of Immigrants Out in the Cold
AILA is disappointed with today’s Supreme Court decision denying the request for a rehearing in United States v. Texas; AILA President Bill Stock noted, “the Supreme Court has once again allowed state governments to block federal policy initiatives with which they disagree.”
USCIS Statistics on Asylum Filings for Minors for FY2016
USCIS provided FY2016 statistics (through 9/30/16) on minor principal applicants (affirmative asylum applicants under the age of 18 at time of filing) and asylum applicants of any age filed with USCIS under the initial jurisdiction provision of the TVPRA while in removal proceedings.
ACLU Report: Shutting Down the Profiteers: Why and How DHS Should Stop Using Private Prisons
This report from the American Civil Liberties Union spotlights the dangerously close ties between ICE and the private prison industry, describes the human toll of over-detention and privatization, and provides a concrete plan for how ICE can and should phase out its reliance on private prisons.
Report of the DHS Advisory Committee on Family Residential Centers
In this report, the DHS Advisory Committee on Family Residential Centers recommended that DHS to discontinue the general use of family detention, reserving it for rare cases, and that if continued custody is absolutely necessary, families should be detained for the shortest amount of time.
District Court Finds That Immigration Detainers Require a Warrant
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois held that ICE’s policy of issuing detainers without regard to whether the subject of the detainer was likely to flee before a warrant could be obtained was unlawful. (Jimenez Moreno v. Napolitano, 9/30/16)
DOD Letter Regarding MAVNI Applicants in the Army’s Delayed Entry Program
DOD issued a letter stating that the Army will conduct a comprehensive review of the immigration status of 4,300 MAVNIs in the Army’s Delayed Entry Program to ensure that applicants maintain an immigration status or obtains deferred action so they qualify for enlistment.
BIA Finds Virginia Drug Schedules Overbroad Under Categorical Approach
Unpublished BIA decision holds that Virginia drug schedules are overbroad under categorical approach because they contain substances not listed on the federal schedule, and remands to consider whether statutes are divisible. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Lee, 9/30/16)
Resources on Class Action Lawsuit on Behalf of Immigrant Detainees with Mental Disabilities
Resources related to Franco-Gonzalez v. Holder, the class action lawsuit brought on behalf of immigrant detainees with mental disabilities.
BIA Holds That Respondent’s Convictions for Retail Theft and Unsworn Falsification to Authorities in Pennsylvania Are CIMTs
The BIA held that the respondent’s convictions for retail theft and unsworn falsification to authorities in Pennsylvania were crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMTs) that rendered him inadmissible under INA §212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I). Matter of Jurado, 24 I&N Dec. 29 (BIA 2006)
AILA Notes from SCOPS Teleconference (9/28/16)
AILA notes from a teleconference with SCOPS on 9/28/16. Topics include premium processing cases, EAD renewals, DACA approval notices, the refugee admissions program and P-2 direct access for I-130 beneficiaries, and I-130 step-child petition RFEs.
American Immigration Council Special Report: Access to Counsel in Immigration Court
The American Immigration Council issued a special report that presents the results of the first national study of access to counsel in U.S. immigration courts with data from over 1.2 million deportation cases decided between 2007 and 2012.
BIA Clarifies Two Prior Decisions in Matter of Chairez
The BIA held that because the Utah statute under which respondent was convicted was not divisible as to the mens rea necessary for the offense to be a crime of violence, respondent was not removable as an alien convicted of an aggravated felony. Matter of Chairez, 26 I&N Dec. 819 (BIA 2016)
Senate Democrats Urge DHS To Release Children and Mothers in Detention
On 9/27/16, a group of senators urged DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson to release families that have been detained for prolonged periods at Berks County Residential Center in Pennsylvania, unless there is compelling evidence that they pose a specific public safety or flight risk.
Senators Call on DHS to Ensure Proper Review Process of Private Immigration Detention
On 9/26/16, twelve U.S. senators urged DHS Secretary Johnson to ensure that the review process of DHS’s use of private immigration detention centers be transparent and include input from outside experts. The senators also shared their concerns of the inadequate conditions of detention facilities.
AILA Comments on EOIR Proposed Rule Establishing Procedures for Motions to Reopen Based on Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Claims
AILA’s comments submitted on 9/26/16 in response to the DOJ notice of proposed rulemaking to amend EOIR regulations to establish procedures for the filing and adjudication of motions to reopen removal, deportation, and exclusion proceedings based upon a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.
EOIR Swears in 15 Immigration Judges
EOIR announced the investiture of 15 new immigration judges. Attorney General Loretta Lynch appointed judges for courts in California, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Nebraska, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, Utah, and Oregon.
BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order In Light of Economic Difficulties
Unpublished BIA decision finds failure to appear was the result of exceptional circumstances where respondent had lost his job, his home was in foreclosure, and his wife was experiencing health problems. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Herrera Huerta, 9/26/16)
BIA Says Federal Conviction for Criminal Copyright Infringement Is a CIMT
The BIA held that an offense of criminal copyright infringement in violation of 17 USC §506(a)(1)(A) and 18 USC §2319(b)(1) is a crime involving moral turpitude. Matter of Zaragoza-Vaquero, 26 I&N Dec. 814 (BIA 2016)