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
EOIR Publishes Rules Regarding Legal Representation
EOIR notice that the Deputy Attorney General has signed for publication in the Federal Register one proposed rule and two final rules, each addressing various aspects of legal representation. EOIR plans to host stakeholder meetings this fall to discuss implementation of these rules.
BIA Grants Family-Based Asylum Claim Based on Gang Threats
Unpublished BIA decision finds respondent threatened for helping daughter pursue criminal case against gang member established nexus to persecution on account of membership in particular social group (family). Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of M-R-G-, 9/16/15)
BIA Dismisses CIMT Charge Based on Length of Possible Sentence
Unpublished BIA decision holds respondent not deportable under INA 237(a)(2)(A)(i) based on CIMT conviction because he himself faced maximum sentence of only seven months under state sentencing guidelines. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Giron, 9/14/15)
IJ Grants Asylum to Mexican Journalist
The IJ granted the asylum application of a Mexican journalist who fled Mexico amid threats and the murder of family members as a result of his reporting on and criticism of police misconduct. Courtesy of Carlos Spector.
CA1 Upholds Finding That Petitioner Failed to Establish Changed Country Conditions
The court held that the BIA and IJ acted within their discretion in finding that the petitioner had failed to establish changed country conditions for Christians in China since the issuance of his in absentia removal order. (Liu v. Lynch, 9/11/15)
AILA: America Must Respond More Generously to Refugee Crisis
AILA urges President Obama to go beyond the commitment he made to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees and to extend more meaningful protection to all refugees and asylum seekers whether they are resettled from abroad or have crossed U.S. borders fleeing violence, persecution, and other horrors.
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Urge the Administration to Comply with the Flores Settlement Agreement
On 9/11/15, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights urged the President, Attorney General Lynch, and Homeland Security Secretary Johnson to comply and not appeal the U.S. District Court order in Flores v. Johnson concerning the detention of children and families
The Council and AILA File Amicus Brief on Detention Under INA §236(a)
The American Immigration Council and AILA filed an amicus brief in Guerra v. Shanahan urging the Second Circuit to affirm that a person with a reinstated order of removal who has yet to receive a final administrative decision on a withholding application is detained under INA §236(a).
BIA Holds Failure To Disclose DUI Does Not Preclude Adjustment of Status
Unpublished BIA decision orders further consideration of adjustment application, noting that failure to disclose arrest for DUI was an adverse discretionary factor but did not render respondent ineligible to adjust status. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Asamoah, 9/11/15)
BIA Upholds Termination of Proceedings Against Returning LPR
Unpublished BIA decision terminates proceedings upon finding failure to disclose conviction is not basis to regard returning LPR as an applicant for admission and record did not clearly establish existence of foreign conviction. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Liu, 9/11/15)
BIA Finds IJ Violated Respondent’s Right to Counsel
Unpublished BIA decision finds IJ failed to advise respondent of pro bono representation option, ascertain whether she was provided list of free legal service providers, or obtain a knowing and voluntary waiver of right to counsel. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of A-M-R-D-, 9/10/15)
BIA Grants Untimely Motion to Reconsider Under Mellouli for Removed Respondent
Unpublished BIA decision grants motion to reconsider sua sponte for respondent who had already departed the country because he was no longer removable under Mellouli v. Lynch, 135 S. Ct. 1980 (2015). Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Asamoah, 9/10/15)
BIA Finds Iraqi’s Past Experience of Working with Americans to Be Immutable Characteristic
Unpublished BIA decision remands petitioner’s asylum claims, finding that the Iraqi citizen-respondent's past experience of having cooperated or worked with Americans or American entities in Iraq was, by its very nature, immutable. Courtesy of Geoffrey A. Hoffman. (Matter of X-, 9/10/15)
Five Incarcerated Refugee Families Finally Released After Being Held for Months on End
The CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project responded to Friday’s release of five families who had been subjected to many months of incarceration despite repeated efforts to advocate for their release pending the adjudication of their claims for protection in the United States.
Representative Bennie Thompson Expresses Concern on ICE Actions in Family Detention Centers
Letter from Ranking Member of the House Homeland Security Committee Bennie Thompson (D-MS) to ICE Director Sarah Saldaña expressing concern regarding recent ICE actions restricting access to counsel and providing misinformation to detainees at the family detention centers in Dilley and Karnes, TX.
AILA Quicktake #137: Access to Counsel in Dilley
AILA member and CARA volunteer Kim Hunter shares the latest access to counsel issues in Dilley and how it affects detainees' cases in this Quicktake.
BIA Says Inter-Proceeding Similarities Can Be Considered in Credibility Determinations
The BIA held that, in making an adverse credibility determination, an IJ can consider significant similarities between statements submitted by applicants in different proceedings, if certain procedural steps are undertaken to preserve fairness. Matter of R-K-K-, 26 I&N Dec. 658 (BIA 2015)
AILA Files Amicus Brief with Fifth Circuit on the Modified Categorical Approach
AILA filed an amicus brief with the Fifth Circuit in Mata v. Lynch, arguing courts should use the modified categorical approach under Descamps only when the statute of conviction contains alternative elements that must be found unanimously by a jury before a conviction.
BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Because Hearing Notice Did Not Contain Complete Address
Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order because address on hearing notice did not include lot number and respondent acted with diligence after learning of removal order. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Reyes-Rojo, 9/8/15)
DHS Concedes Florida Statute Is Not An Aggravated Felony Fraud Offense
Unpublished BIA decision notes DHS withdrawal of appeal after conceding that exploitation of an elderly person in excess of $100,000 under Fla. Stat. 825.103 is not an aggravated felony fraud offense. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Cortina, 9/4/15)
Compilation of Family Detention Case Examples
Compilation of case examples of mothers and children from the Artesia family detention center who have been granted asylum.
BIA Holds Georgia Theft Statute Not an Aggravated Felony
Unpublished BIA decision holds that Ga. Code 16-8-2 is not an aggravated felony theft offense because it encompasses theft by conversion, fraud, or deception, and because the statute is overbroad rather than divisible. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Ajaelu, 9/3/15)
CA9 Reverses BIA’s Denial of CAT Deferral for Transgender Woman from Mexico
The court granted in part the petition for review, holding that the BIA erred in denying CAT relief for the petitioner, a Mexican transgender woman, because it failed to recognize the difference between gender identity and sexual orientation. (Avendano-Hernandez v. Lynch, 9/3/15)
EOIR Announces New General Counsel
EOIR announced the appointment of Jean King to serve as the agency’s next general counsel, effective September 6, 2015. In addition to serving as the acting general counsel for eight months earlier this year, she served as the deputy general counsel since December 2012.
Immigration Law Advisor, July-August 2015 (Vol. 9, No. 7)
Immigration Law Advisor with an article on Nijhawan v. Holder, as well as a chart with post-Nijhawan circuit court holdings, summaries of circuit court decisions from June and July 2015, summaries of recent BIA precedent decisions, and a regulatory update.