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
CA5 Affirms Dismissal of Plaintiffs' Claims in DACA Case
The court held that Mississippi and ICE agents lacked standing to challenge DACA, because they failed to allege a sufficiently concrete and particularized injury, and that the DACA program is a valid exercise of prosecutorial discretion. (Crane v. Johnson, 4/7/15)
USCIS Message: Timing of DACA Renewal Applications
USCIS message on timing for filing DACA renewal applications, stating that on 3/27/15, USCIS began mailing renewal reminder notices to DACA recipients 180 days prior to the expiration date of their current period of DACA. Previously, these reminder notices were mailed 100 days in advance.
USCIS Alert Regarding Immigration Scams on Expanded DACA/DAPA
USCIS alert reminding stakeholders that due to a temporary injunction issued in Texas v. United States, USCIS has been prevented from accepting requests under the expanded DACA guidelines and suspended plans to accept requests for DAPA.
EOIR OPPM 15-01: Hearing Procedures for Cases Covered by New DHS Priorities and Initiatives (Rescinded 6/15/17)
This memo was rescinded 6/15/17. EOIR OPPM 15-01 on hearing procedures for cases covered by the 11/20/14 DHS priorities and initiatives. ICE should review cases prior to hearings and be prepared to indicate if the case is a priority. Judges are encouraged to use docketing tools to resolve cases.
AILA Quicktake #122: CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project
AILA's Director of Practice and Professionalism Reid Trautz shares why the new CARA project, made up of AILA, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, the American Immigration Council, and the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, is so important to ended family detention.
ICE Guidance on Cases Pending Before EOIR Impacted by Secretary Johnson’s 11/20/14 PD Memo
ICE memo with additional guidance to Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) attorneys regarding pending proceedings involving individuals who may fall outside of the revised DHS enforcement priorities in light of Secretary Johnson’s 11/20/14 prosecutorial discretion memo.
AILA Amicus Brief Argues Individuals Subject to Reinstatement Can Be Eligible for Asylum
AILA amicus brief filed with the Eleventh Circuit in Lanza v. Holder, arguing that an individual is who is subject to reinstatement of removal is still eligible to apply for asylum, and should not be placed in “withholding only” proceedings.
CA1 Interprets Entry and Assistance in Alien Smuggling Act
The court held that the Alien Smuggling Act meant that an entry requires more than mere physical presence and requires freedom from official restraint; that assistance requires affirmative acts; and that there is no humanitarian mens rea exception. (Dimova v. Holder, 4/3/15)
BIA Reopens and Administratively Closes Proceedings For DACA Recipient
Unpublished BIA decision grants joint motion to reopen and administratively close proceedings following grant of relief under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Serna, 4/2/15)
CA9 Denies Petition for Panel Rehearing Following Sua Sponte Call
The court denied the petition for panel rehearing, following a sua sponte call for a vote on rehearing the case en banc made by an active judge of the court. (Rendon v. Holder, 4/2/15)
DOJ OIL April 2015 Litigation Bulletin
The DOJ OIL Immigration Litigation Bulletin for April 2015, with an article on the vacatur of Matter of Silva-Trevino and on Ortiz-Franco v. Holder, as well as summaries of circuit court decisions for April 2015 and updates from DHS.
CA2 Says Jurisdictional Limits Apply in Denial of CAT Deferral of Removal
The court held it lacked jurisdiction to hear petitioner's CAT claim, finding that when an otherwise removable petitioner seeks review of his CAT claim, the court's review is limited to questions of law and constitutional claims. (Ortiz-Franco v. Holder, 4/1/15)
CA7 Grants Petition for Review for Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Claim
The court held BIA abused its discretion by ignoring a potentially meritorious argument when deciding a motion to reopen, and BIA should determine if petitioner’s attorneys incompetently neglected to offer evidence that might have resolved inconsistencies. (Chen v. Holder, 4/1/15)
BIA Finds Group of Bandits Not a Tier III Terrorist Organization
Unpublished BIA decision finds group of bandits to whom respondent provided domestic services was not a Tier III terrorist organization, because they were motivated by personal monetary gain. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of J-F-L-K-, 3/31/15)
Immigrants’ Rights Groups Announce Plans to Provide Pro Bono Legal Services to Children and Their Mothers Detained in Texas
AILA joins CLINIC, the American Immigration Council, and RAICES in a new collective project known as CARA to provide legal services to children and their mothers detained in Karnes City and Dilley, Texas, and to advocate for the end of family detention.
USCIS Asylum Statistics from Family Detention Facilities for FY2015, Second Quarter
USCIS Asylum Division statistics on credible and reasonable fear interviews conducted in family detention facilities: Artesia, Berks, Dilley, and Karnes, from the second quarter of FY2015.
BIA Holds North Carolina Cocaine Trafficking Statute Is Not an Aggravated Felony
Unpublished BIA decision holds trafficking in cocaine under N.C.G.S. §90-95(h)(3) is categorically not an aggravated felony, and upholds grant of LPR cancellation for respondent arrested with 400 grams of cocaine. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of V-M-B-B-, 3/27/15)
CA9 Reverses Denial of CAT Relief Based on Internal Relocation Regulations
The en banc court held that neither petitioner nor government bear the burden of proof as to internal relocation, rather such evidence, if relevant, must be considered in assessing whether it is more likely than not that petitioner would be tortured if removed. (Maldonado v. Holder, 3/27/15)
CA7 Denies PTR Where Petition Was Focused Only on Underlying Denial
The court denied petition to review, because petition focused only on the underlying denial of his application for asylum and withholding, a ruling not properly before the court, and petitioner did not argue that the denial of his motion to reconsider was erroneous. (He v. Holder, 3/27/15)
ICE Instructions for Seeking Prosecutorial Discretion under 2014 Executive Action
ICE instructions for individuals seeking prosecutorial discretion (PD) under the 11/20/14 enforcement priorities memo, including info for individuals with removal orders, individuals in proceedings before EOIR, reconsideration of prior PD decisions, and PD requests that should be directed to ERO.
CA3 Upholds Finding That Sexual Orientation Was Not Central to Persecution
The court denied withholding of removal to a gay Honduran national who feared torture and death by an infamous gang, ruling that the gang was interested in petitioner’s money and recruitment potential and not in harming him because of his homosexuality. (Gonzalez-Posadas v. Holder, 3/26/15)
AILA Vote Recommendations to the Senate Budget Resolution
AILA urged Senators to vote against immigration amendments to the budget resolution that would present no solution on immigration, require unnecessary/excessive spending on border security, and interfere with Executive Branch’s clear legal authority to implement reforms to the immigration system.
VOICE: April 2015
In the April 2015 VOICE, learn about the debate in the courts regarding the H-2B program, the positive impact that your participation in National Day of Action can make on immigration reform, librarians providing limited legal services as BIA-accredited representatives, and more!
USCIS Alert on Workload Transfer Within Service Center Operations
USCIS alert that effective 3/27/15, USCIS will transfer the adjudication of some cases to balance the overall workload. The affected cases include those filed with the following forms: I-129F, I-140, I-485, I-821D/I-765. The filing location and instructions for these forms will not change.
BIA Holds Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Deliver in North Carolina Is Not an Aggravated Felony
Unpublished BIA decision holds possession of marijuana with intent to deliver under North Carolina statute is not an aggravated felony, because it criminalizes the transfer of five grams of marijuana for no remuneration. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Garcia Olvera, 3/25/15)