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 Says IJs Cannot Adjudicate Section 212(d)(3)(A)(ii) Waiver by Petitioner for U Status
The BIA held that IJs do not have authority to adjudicate a request for a waiver of inadmissibility under INA §212(d)(3)(A)(ii) by a petitioner for U nonimmigrant status. Matter of Khan, 26 I&N Dec. 797 (BIA 2016)
AILA Immigration Policy Update – “Catch and Release”
AILA issued an immigration policy update on “catch and release,” an unofficial term for the government practice that ended in 2006, where people apprehended at the border were released from detention while their cases were waiting to be heard before the immigration court.
OIG Report: Potentially Ineligible Individuals Have Been Granted U.S. Citizenship Because of Incomplete Fingerprint Records
DHS’s Office of Inspector General released a report finding that USCIS granted U.S. citizenship to at least 858 individuals ordered deported or removed under another identity when, during the naturalization process, their digital fingerprint records were not available.
CRS Report on Criminal Alien Programs
A Congressional Research Service report discusses DHS programs targeting criminal noncitizens, including the Criminal Alien Program, the Priority Enforcement Program, the §287(g) Program, and the National Fugitive Operations Program, as well as policy issues.
USCIS Accepts Ombudsman’s Recommendation to Adopt Parole Policy for U Visa Petitioners and Family Members
The CIS Ombudsman’s Office notified stakeholders that USCIS has agreed with the Ombudsman’s recommendation to implement a parole policy for U visa petitioners and qualifying family members who live abroad. USCIS will implement this policy when a new form and policy guidance are completed in FY2017.
CA1 Upholds Withholding of Removal Denial to Citizen of Guatemala
The court held that substantial evidence supported BIA’s findings that petitioner failed to establish that any harm he suffered or would likely suffer in the future was serious enough to constitute persecution and related to a statutorily protected ground. (Hernandez-Lima v. Lynch, 9/7/16)
BIA Reverses Denial of Continuance for Unaccompanied Minor Seeking Asylum
Unpublished BIA decision held that the IJ should have granted a continuance for the respondent, who was then an unaccompanied minor, to apply for asylum. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Rodas-Mazariegos, 9/7/16)
AG Lifts Stay and Remands Matter of Chairez and Matter of Sama
After referring the two BIA decisions to herself for review of an issue relating to Descamps v. United States, the Attorney General lifted the stay and remanded the two cases to the BIA for any appropriate action. Matter of Chairez and Matter of Sama, 26 I&N Dec. 796 (A.G. 2016)
DHS Notice: Privatized Immigration Detention Facilities Subcommittee
DHS notice that on 8/26/16, the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) was tasked with establishing a Privatized Immigration Detention Facilities Subcommittee. (81 FR 60713, 9/2/16)
BIA Says Oklahoma Conviction for “Resisting an Executive Officer” Is Not Categorically a CIMT
Unpublished BIA decision finds that the respondent’s 2012 Oklahoma conviction for “resisting an executive officer” was not a CIMT, and thus vacated the IJ’s decision finding that the respondent was not eligible for cancellation of removal under INA §240A(b)(1). Special thanks to David Sobel.
BIA Finds Oklahoma Resisting Arrest Statute Not a CIMT
Unpublished BIA decision holds that resisting an executive officer under Okla. Stat. Ann. Tit 21, §268 is not a CIMT as it does not require use of deadly weapon, actual or intended inflicted injury, or disregard of life or property of others. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of F-E-H-, 9/2/16)
AILA: Trump Immigration Policy Unworkable and Inhumane
AILA expressed deep concern over Donald Trump’s immigration platform which “reflected a lack of understanding of immigration law, a disregard for fundamental rights of due process guaranteed by the Constitution, and a failure to appreciate the valuable contributions that immigrants make.”
Immigration Law Advisor, August 2016 (Vol. 10, No. 6)
The August 2016 Immigration Law Advisor, a legal publication from EOIR, includes an article on uncertainty regarding what constitutes “sexual abuse of a minor,” as well as summaries of circuit court decisions from August 2016 and BIA precedent decisions.
CA9 Finds It Lacks Jurisdiction to Review BIA’s Decision Following Remand to IJ for Voluntary Departure Advisals
The court held that it lacked jurisdiction to review the BIA’s decision following remand to an IJ for voluntary departure advisals, because petitioner did not file a petition for review within the 30-day period after the IJ’s decision as to the merits of his claims. (Singh v. Lynch, 9/1/16)
CA9 Upholds Regulation Precluding an Individual Subject to a Reinstated Removal Order from Applying for Asylum
The court found that the Attorney General’s regulation at 8 CFR §1208.31(e), which prevents a noncitizen who is subject to a reinstated removal order from applying for asylum, was reasonable, and hence entitled to deference under Chevron. (Perez-Guzman v. Lynch, 8/31/16)
What is Donald Trump’s Position on Immigration?
Why do we ask? And why particularly of Donald Trump and not Hillary Clinton? While the devil is always in the details, it is clear that Secretary Clinton has a more favorable view of immigration and has laid out a fairly clear strategy for how she would reform the current system. But the question
CA5 Finds Petitioner Did Not Meet INA §212(a)(9)(C)(ii)’s Exception to Inadmissibility
The court deferred to the BIA’s interpretation of INA §212(a)(9)(C)(ii) in Matter of Torres-Garcia, holding that petitioner did not met the section’s exception to inadmissibility, because he failed to remain outside the U.S. for ten years before returning. (Zermeno v. Lynch, 8/31/16)
CA7 Upholds Denial of Request for a Continuance to Adjustment of Status Applicant
The court held that BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying petitioner’s request for a continuance, which was made during the hearing he sought to be continued, and found that his entitlement to the relief he wanted to seek from USCIS was speculative at best. (Cadavedo v. Lynch, 8/31/16)
CA8 Remands for Petitioner to Present Evidence on Manner of Preparation of I-213 Documents
Noting that it would be fundamentally unfair to rely on I-213 documents as the only evidence that petitioner entered without inspection without giving him an opportunity to present evidence about their manner of preparation, the court remanded to the BIA. (Rodriguez-Quiroz v. Lynch, 8/31/16)
American Immigration Council Special Report: Divided by Detention
The American Immigration Council issued a special report that profiles five asylum-seeking families divided by detention. It provides a preliminary analysis of how this separation occurs, and the impact this separation can have on families’ well-being and ability to access humanitarian protection.
CSC PowerPoint Presentations from 8/31/16 Open House
The California Service Center (CSC) provided the PowerPoint presentations from its 8/31/16 open house, where updates were given on employment and family-based immigration, student issues, and DACA.
BIA Reverses Finding That Respondent Failed to Submit Fee for Relief Application
Unpublished BIA decision reverses finding that respondent failed to submit fee for cancellation application where respondent presented biometrics notice and proof that check accompanying the application was cashed. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Ngo, 8/31/16)
BIA Reopens Proceedings Pending Adjudication of Asylum Application by USCIS
Unpublished BIA decision reopens and administratively closes proceedings sua sponte pending adjudication of asylum application by USCIS, noting that respondent was unaccompanied alien child at time of in absentia. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of B-A-P-J-, 8/31/16)
BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Due to Missing Apartment Number
Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order because NTA was mailed to the respondent at an address that did not contain an internal apartment number. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Hiraldo, 8/31/16)
CA9 Finds BIA Erred by Failing to Give Notice and Opportunity to Provide Corroborating Evidence
The court granted the petition for review of the BIA’s denial of asylum, holding that the IJ erred by failing to give the petitioner notice and an opportunity to explain any perceived inconsistencies or provide additional corroborative evidence. (Bhattarai v. Lynch, 8/30/16)