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
CA8 Finds Petitioner Admitted as Refugee Not Entitled to Presumption of Well-Founded Fear of Persecution
The court upheld the BIA’s denial of the petitioner’s CAT claim, holding that the Haitian petitioner, who was originally admitted as a refugee, was not entitled to the presumption of a well-founded fear of persecution upon his return to Haiti. (Martine v. Lynch, 11/2/16)
CA2 Says ESTA Record Is Sufficient to Establish Waiver
The court held that an Electronic System for Travel Authorization record is sufficient evidence of waiver, and that petitioner waived his right to a hearing by submitting an ESTA application and entering the United States pursuant to the Visa Waiver Program. (Vasconcelos v. Lynch, 11/2/16)
BIA Says Fraud Waiver Cannot Waive Removability for CIMT Conviction Based on Underlying Fraud
The BIA held that a fraud waiver under INA §237(a)(1)(H) cannot waive a noncitizen’s removability under INA §237(a)(2)(A)(i) for having been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, even if the conviction is based on the underlying fraud. Matter of Tima, 26 I&N Dec. 839 (BIA 2016)
AILA/USCIS Field Operations Directorate Liaison Q&As (11/1/16)
Official Q&As from the 11/1/16 AILA liaison meeting with USCIS Field Operations. Topics include staffing, processing times, interview-waiver cases, SIJ centralization, online filing of N-400s, field office SOPs, I-212s, advance parole adjudication, EB-5 processing times and follow up, and more.
AILA/USCIS HQ Meeting Questions and Answers (11/1/16)
Official questions and answers from the 11/1/16 AILA liaison meeting with USCIS HQ. Topics include processing times, deferred action, EADs for individuals under OSUP, I-140 date of degrees, signature requirements, G-28 recognition, STEM OPT extensions, refugee and asylum issues, and more.
Shadow Prisons: Immigrant Detention in the South
The Southern Poverty Law Center, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild and the Adelante Alabama Worker Center provides a report based on 300 in-person interviews with detainees that focuses on detention centers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana.
EOIR FAQs on the Internet Immigration Information (I3)
EOIR FAQs, updated in November 2016, on the Internet Immigration Information (I3) suite of products, which includes EOIR’s electronic registry for attorneys and fully accredited representatives (eRegistry), electronic filing (eFiling), and electronic case information applications (eInfo).
BIA Grants Exception to One-Year Deadline Based on Timing of Initial Master Calendar Hearing
Unpublished BIA decision finds respondent qualified for extraordinary circumstances exception due to hearing timing and that the proposed particular social group of "Salvadoran women unable to leave a domestic relationship" is cognizable. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of S-V-C-, 11/1/16)
Sign-On Letter to DHS Secretary Johnson Condemning the Escalating Detention Rates
On 10/31/16, AILA joined 230 organizations in condemning DHS’ record-level immigration detention rates, as well as ICE contract renewal with a private prison company for a family detention center. The group requested a meeting with DHS Secretary Johnson to discuss these concerns and recommendations.
CA1 Upholds BIA’s Denial of Petitioner’s Good-Faith-Marriage Waiver Application
The court upheld the BIA’s determination that, in light of the petitioner’s misrepresentations to advance her application for a good-faith-marriage waiver, the evidence was insufficient to establish that she had entered into a good-faith marriage. (Quezada-Caraballo v. Lynch, 10/31/16)
Letter From Former Immigration Judges and BIA Members to DHS on Immigration Detention System
On 10/31/16, former Immigration Judges and BIA members sent a letter to DHS Secretary Johnson to express concern and disappointment on the dramatic increase of men, women, and children detained by ICE, stating that the expansion is coming at the expense of basic rights and due process.
BIA Dismisses Charges From Hawaii Sexual Assault Conviction
Unpublished BIA decision holds that sexual assault in the third degree under Haw. Rev. Stat. 707-732(1)(b) is neither a CIMT nor sexual abuse of a minor. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Nuezca, 10/31/16)
American Immigration Council: The Three- and Ten-Year Bars
The American Immigration Council provides a fact sheet on the three- and ten-year bars and how recent regulatory changes have broadened the number of people eligible for a provisional waiver that allows them to apply for advance approval of the waiver in the United States.
District Court Says Government Bears Burden of Proving That Continued Mandatory Detention Is Necessary
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia denied the government’s Motion to Alter or Amend the Judgment, and reaffirmed that due process requires the government to bear the burden of justifying the petitioner’s continued detention. (Haughton v. Crawford, et al., 10/28/16)
CA3 Remands Bulgarian Roma Asylum Claim, Holding That the Agency Proceedings Went “Awry”
In a nonprecedent decision, the court found that the entire administrative proceedings went “awry” where the BIA demanded the asylum applicant produce an expert witness to establish his Roma ethnicity or face a denial of the claim. Courtesy of Raymond Lahoud. (Ayvazov v. Att’y Gen., 10/27/16)
USCIS Provides Credible Fear and Reasonable Fear Statistics from Family Detention Facilities
USCIS provided credible fear and reasonable fear statistics from four family detention facilities (Artesia, Berks, Dilley, and Karnes). Includes information on number of receipts, interviews conducted, whether fear was established, and fear found rate for FY2014 through FY2016.
CA4 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Chinese Petitioner Who Attended “Underground” Catholic Church
The court concluded that petitioner failed to establish a well-founded fear of persecution, finding that the accounts in the DOS reports he submitted substantially supported BIA’s finding of a lack of widespread persecution of unregistered Catholic churches in China. (Tang v. Lynch, 10/26/16)
AILA Notes from SCOPS Teleconference (10/26/16)
AILA notes from a teleconference with SCOPS on 10/26/16. Topics include E-3 petition processing times, delays in processing times for H-1s, L-1s, and NIWs, DACA renewal cases, ELIS approval notice format, clarification on LCA checkboxes and H-1 categorization, and physical therapist credentialing.
Immigration Policy Update: Major Shift in Migration to America’s Southern Border
AILA issued an immigration policy update to provide information on ICE’s enforcement data that reflects a decreased of apprehensions in FY2016, roughly one-third of what they were 15 years ago, as well as context on the major factors that contribute to the shift.
CA9 Says Noncitizen Issued an Expedited Removal Order at Border-Crossing Checkpoint Has “Re-Entered” Under INA §241(a)(5)
The court held that when a noncitizen is issued an expedited removal order at a U.S. border-crossing checkpoint, that noncitizen has entered the United States for the purpose of the INA’s reinstatement provision’s “reentry” requirement. (Tellez v. Lynch, 10/24/16)
AILA and the American Immigration Council File Amicus Brief in Jennings v. Rodriguez
AILA and the American Immigration Council filed an amicus brief in Jennings v. Rodriguez, urging the Supreme Court to affirm the Ninth Circuit’s ruling that certain immigrants are entitled to automatic bond hearings following six months of detention. (Jennings v. Rodriguez, 10/24/16)
CA1 Finds BIA Acted Within Its Discretion in Denying Ugandan Petitioner’s Motion to Reopen
The court denied the petition for review, finding that the BIA supportably found that the petitioner failed to introduce new, previously unavailable, material evidence in connection with his motion to reopen. (Bbale v. Lynch, 10/24/16)
CA5 Says Conviction for Possession with Intent to Deliver More Than 10 Pounds of Marijuana Is Aggravated Felony
The court held that the petitioner’s Arkansas conviction for recklessly possessing with the intent to deliver at least 10 pounds of marijuana for remuneration constituted an aggravated felony rendering him ineligible for relief from removal. (Flores-Larrazola v. Lynch, 10/24/16)
BIA Grants Joint Motion to Reopen to Pursue Provisional Waiver
Unpublished BIA decision grants joint motion to reopen and administratively close proceedings to let respondent pursue provisional unlawful presence waiver (Form I-601A). Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Sapon-Ordonez, 10/24/16)
CA1 Upholds Denial of Colombian Petitioner’s Untimely Motion to Reopen
The court upheld the BIA’s denial of the Colombian petitioner’s untimely motion to reopen her removal proceedings, finding that the petitioner had failed to establish an exception to the time limitations on motions to reopen. (Giraldo-Pabon v. Lynch, 10/21/16)