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
IJ Grants Asylum to Bangladeshi Member of BNP
The IJ granted the asylum application of a Bangladeshi national who was a member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and who suffered persecution by the current ruling party, the Awami League. The IJ specifically found that the BNP is not a terrorist organization. Courtesy of Paul Scott.
AILA Quicktake #134: Flores Litigation Update
American Immigration Council's Legal Fellow Lindsay Harris delves into the government and plaintiffs' responses on Judge Gee's Order to Show Cause in the ongoing Flores settlement litigation and tells us what to expect next.
CA9 Says California Theft Conviction Not an Aggravated Felony
The court held that a California theft conviction was categorically not a theft offense and thus not an aggravated felony, because the statute was both overbroad and indivisible, and such a conviction was not susceptible to the modified categorical approach. (Lopez-Valencia v. Lynch, 8/17/15)
TRAC Report Finds Central American Deportation Cases Dominate U.S. Immigration Courts
A Transactional Records Access Clearing House (TRAC) report found that Central Americans continue to outnumber Mexicans when DHS seeks deportation orders in Immigration Court. To date in FY2015, 42% of DHS filings involved individuals from Central America, up from 25% three years ago.
DC Circuit Court Finds Sheriff Joe Arpaio Lacks Standing to Sue to Enjoin DACA/DAPA
The court held that Sheriff Arpaio’s allegations of causation and redressability regarding DHS’s deferred action policies rest on speculation beyond that permitted by standing decisions, and affirmed the district court’s dismissal for want of Article III standing. (Arpaio v. Obama, 8/14/15)
Plaintiffs’ Response to Order to Show Cause in Flores Litigation
The 8/14/15 response to Order to Show Cause filed by the plaintiffs in the ongoing Flores litigation. Also included are supporting documents filed with the response.
OIG Report Finding USCIS Did Not Deliberately Violate Court Injunction When Issuing Three-Year EADs
The DHS Inspector General found no evidence that USCIS deliberately violated a U.S. District Court’s preliminary injunction when it issued approximately 2,000 three-year EADs after the Court enjoined the November 2014 executive actions on immigration.
CA8 Finds That Forgery Conviction Under CA Penal Code Statute Is a CIMT
The court held that a conviction under California Penal Code §472, which criminalizes forgery and related conduct, always includes the element of a specific intent to defraud, and is thus categorically a crime involving moral turpitude. (Miranda-Romero v. Lynch, 8/12/15)
CA9 Grants Petition for Review on Remand from U.S. Supreme Court in Light of Mellouli
The court held that, in light of Mellouli v. Lynch, the Nevada statute under which petitioner was convicted for possessing drug paraphernalia was overbroad, and that petitioner was thus not categorically barred from seeking cancellation of removal. (Madrigal-Barcenas v. Lynch, 8/10/15)
BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Against Respondent Who Assumed IJ Would Change Venue
Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order against respondent who wrongly assumed that the IJ would change venue to Texas and who could not arrange transportation to immigration court in Seattle. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Dholasania, 8/19/15)
CA5 Says Being Born on Overseas Military Base Does Not Confer U.S. Citizenship
The court held that the petitioner did not derive birthright citizenship from the 14th Amendment, because the U.S. military base located in modern-day Germany on which he was born was not “in the United States” for purposes of the 14th Amendment. (Thomas v. Lynch, 8/7/15)
CA6 Remands for Reconsideration and Clarification of Frivolousness Finding
The court held that the current record did not support BIA and IJ’s frivolousness finding, because IJ failed to determine whether misrepresentations made by the Chaldean Christian Iraqi petitioner were material to his asylum application at the time they were made. (Yousif v. Lynch, 8/7/15)
DOJ’S Shameful Attempt to Pretty Up Family Detention Comes Up Woefully Short
The American Immigration Lawyers Association and the American Immigration Council are outraged by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) response to U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee’s ruling on the mass incarceration of children and mothers seeking asylum in the U.S.
AILA Amicus Brief on Ambiguous Conviction Records
AILA amicus brief filed with the Ninth Circuit arguing that the court should overrule Young v. Holder, and hold that a noncitizen has not been convicted of a disqualifying offense in cases in which the conviction record is ambiguous.
CA8 Finds Minnesota Obstruction of Legal Process Conviction Not an Aggravated Felony
The court reversed the BIA, finding that an obstruction of legal process conviction under a Minnesota statute was not a "crime of violence," and thus not an aggravated felony requiring removal under INA §237(a)(2)(A)(iii). (Ortiz v. Lynch, 8/6/15)
CA1 Upholds Determination That Attack on Petitioner Was Not Persecution
The court held that the generalized evidence, including news articles and country conditions reports, submitted by the Honduran petitioner, who escaped an attack by armed assailants, was not sufficient to compel a finding of a well-founded fear of persecution. (Villafranca v. Lynch, 8/5/15)
CA1 Upholds Adverse Credibility Determination Due to Prior Inconsistent Statements
Based on substantial evidence, including petitioner's prior inconsistent statements, the court upheld the IJ and BIA's adverse credibility finding and the resulting denial of petitioner's withholding of removal and CAT claims. (Cuatzo v. Lynch, 8/5/15)
USCIS Update for DACA Recipients Who Received Three-Year EADs
USCIS update on efforts to retrieve three-year DACA work permits. As of 8/5/15, USCIS reports that it has accounted for over 99% of the approximately 2,600 identified invalid work permits requiring return. Twenty-two recipients failed to respond to the recall, and their DACA has been terminated.
BIA Holds IJs Must Notify Applicants of Biometrics Requirement and Deadline
BIA held that IJs must notify asylum applicants of biometrics requirements, deadline, and noncompliance consequences, and that IJs and BIA lack jurisdiction to consider if asylum-only proceedings were improvidently begun under a VWP referral. Matter of D-M-C-P-, 26 I&N Dec. 644 (BIA 2015)
CA3 Implements Temporary Administrative Stay Procedure
In order to ensure that petitioners in immigration matters are not deported before the court has an opportunity to act on a motion for stay of removal, the third circuit will grant a temporary administrative stay pending disposition of a motion for a stay if the case meets certain listed criteria
EOIR Security Directive on the Use of Electronic Devices in EOIR Space
EOIR Security Directive 01-2015, on the public use of electronic devices in EOIR space. The directive prohibits use of electronic devices in courtrooms, entrances/exits, corridors, conference rooms, and waiting areas, except for the limited purpose of conducting relevant court/ business activities.
BIA Request for Amicus Briefs on Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude
The BIA invites interested members of the public to file an amicus curiae brief on crimes involving moral turpitude. Briefs are due by 8/25/15.
CA9 Holds “Mixed” BIA Decision Is Not a Final Order of Removal
The en banc court held that when BIA issues a decision that denies some claims, but remands others to IJ, BIA's decision is not a final removal order with regard to any of the claims, and does not trigger the 30-day window in which to file a petition for review. (Abdisalan v. Holder, 1/6/15)
BIA Finds Removal Would Cause Exceptional and Extremely Unusual Hardship
Unpublished BIA decision reverses denial of non-LPR cancellation in light of medical problems afflicting qualifying relatives. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Y-Y-C-, 8/4/15)
DOJ OIL August 2015 Litigation Bulletin
The DOJ OIL Immigration Litigation Bulletin for August 2015, with articles on Garcia v. Lynch and Thomas v. Lynch, as well as summaries of circuit court decisions for August 2015.