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 Says Stop-Time Rule Renders LPR Ineligible for Cancellation of Removal
The court held that the stop-time rule applied to offenses that would render LPRs, including those not currently seeking admission to the U.S., inadmissible, and that the petitioner was therefore not eligible for cancellation of removal. (Paz Calix v. Lynch, 4/28/15)
Senator McCaskill Requests that DHS Investigate the Modified Contract to Manage Dilley
On 4/27/15, Senator Claire McCaskilll (D-MO) requested that the DHS OIG review the process DHS used to modify an existing contract with the City of Eloy, Arizona for management of an ICE facility to extend to management of the Dilley detention facility by a private prison company.
CRCL Newsletter, April 2015 (Vol. 5, No. 6)
The Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) released its April 2015 newsletter, which included articles on the updated solicitation for license plate reader database access, the 2015 Privacy and Civil Liberties Assessment Report, town halls with Syrian American communities, and more.
BIA Rescinds in Absentia Order Due to Erroneous Denial of Motion to Change Venue
Unpublished BIA decision rescinds an in absentia removal order, finding that the IJ’s erroneous denial of respondent’s unopposed motion to change venue constituted exceptional circumstances justifying respondent’s failure to appear. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Flores, 4/24/15)
DHS Instruction Card on Prosecutorial Discretion
Copy of a DHS instruction card to be carried by enforcement personnel, providing guidance and brief instruction on the DHS enforcement priorities articulated in a November 20, 2014 prosecutorial discretion memorandum.
CA4 Says It Lacks Jurisdiction to Consider Denial of I-130 Petition
The court held that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the BIA’s denial of petitioner’s Form I-130 and that transfer of the motion to reopen petitioner’s visa denial to district court was not in the interests of justice. (LeBlanc v. Holder, 4/21/15)
CA11 Says Uttering Forged Instrument Is an Aggravated Felony and a CIMT
Applying a categorical approach, the court held that uttering a forged instrument necessarily involves deceit and is thus a categorical aggravated felony under Florida law as well as a crime involving moral turpitude. (Walker v. Att’y Gen., 4/21/15)
CA7 Reverses Due to Flawed Adverse Credibility Determination
The court remanded, holding that if an IJ explicitly premises a demand for corroborating evidence on an adverse credibility determination that is flawed, then there must be a reassessment of credibility, which may turn out to remove the need for corroboration. (Nadmid v. Holder, 4/21/15)
CA8 Affirms Asylum Denial for Mungiki Opposer in Kenya
The court held that “individuals openly opposed to the Mungiki,” the largest criminal organization in Kenya, was not a particular social group, because such a description was too large and diffuse a segment of society to be perceived with particularity by society. (Kanagu v. Holder, 2/9/15)
BIA Administratively Closes Proceedings Pending DHS Determination on Prosecutorial Discretion
Unpublished BIA decision administratively closes proceedings, pending DHS’s determination of whether the respondent merits a favorable exercise of prosecutorial discretion. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of E-A-P-, 4/17/15)
OIG Report on ICE Detainee Air Transportation Program
DHS OIG report on ICE’s Detainee Air Transportation Program, which is responsible for moving and removing detainees in ICE custody, operated charter flights with empty seats and could have realized savings of up to $41.1 million. The program transported 930,435 detainees over a 3-1/2 year period.
BIA Finds Removal Proceedings May Be Delayed If Criminal Conviction Remains Pending
The BIA says that removal proceedings may be administratively closed, where warranted, pending the adjudication of a direct appeal of a criminal conviction. Matter of Montiel, 26 I&N Dec. 555 (BIA 2015)
AILA/CBP Liaison Meeting Minutes (4/16/15)
AILA’s unofficial meeting minutes from a 4/16/15 CBP Liaison Committee meeting with CBP. Topics include FOIA, entry/exit portal, Admissibility Review Office (ARO), port-of-entry applications for TN, O/P, and H-1B nonimmigrants, advance parole for Canadian H/L, and expedited removal.
Q&As from AILA Joint Meeting with USCIS Verification and ICE HSI (4/16/15)
Q&As from AILA’s Verification and Documentation Liaison Committee meeting with USCIS Verification and ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on 4/16/15. Topics include: Form I-9, I-9 Central, RIDE, M&C inspections, and E-Verify issues.
IJ Finds That None of Respondent's Convictions Make Him Removable
The IJ granted the motion to terminate, finding that DHS failed to show that respondent had been convicted in NY of two or more CIMT not arising out of a single scheme of misconduct, or of a violation of a law relating to a federally controlled substance. Courtesy of Patricia Cooper.
AILA EOIR/OCAHO Liaison Meeting Minutes (4/16/15)
Minutes from the 4/16/15 AILA liaison meeting with EOIR and OCAHO. Topics include executive action initiatives, Dent v. Holder, regulations update, withdrawing from an administratively closed case, parking dates, IJ hiring, time-sensitive cancellation cases, e-Registry, and OCAHO e-filing.
CA9 Affirms Order Removing Petitioner Due to Domestic Violence Conviction
The court held that the BIA correctly found that a conviction of domestic violence pursuant to California’s Penal Code constitutes a categorical crime of domestic violence under the INA. (Carrillo v. Holder, 3/31/15)
CA3 Remands to Determine if Petitioner Was Convicted of Aggravated Felony
The court held that the government failed to show that petitioner’s Uniform Code of Military Justice general sentence constituted his conviction of a crime of violence for which the term of imprisonment was at least one year. (Chavez-Alvarez v. Holder, 4/16/15)
AILA/USCIS HQ Liaison Q&As (4/16/15)
Official questions and answers from the 4/16/15 AILA liaison meeting with USCIS HQ. Topics include executive actions, DACA, DAPA, H-4 employment, delays in EAD issuance, FDNS site visits, misrepresentations made by minors, EB-2 I-140s for physical therapists, and the new preparer's declaration.
AG Holder Vacates AG Mukasey's 11/7/08 Opinion in Matter of Silva-Trevino
Attorney General vacated in its entirety the 11/7/08 opinion, finding that as circuits were split and Supreme Court decisions cast doubt on its continued validity, it was no longer useful in determining whether a criminal offense is a CIMT. Matter of Silva-Trevino, 26 I&N Dec. 550 (A.G. 2015)
AILA/USCIS Field Operation Directorate Liaison Q&As (4/16/15)
Official questions and answers from the 4/16/15 AILA liaison meeting with USCIS Field Operations Directorate. Topics include stand-alone Forms I-130, interview waiver adjustment of status cases, workload transfers, InfoPass, staffing changes, Forms I-601 and I-601A, and I-485s for VAWA cases.
BIA Permits Withdrawal of Erroneous and Prejudicial Attorney Concession
Unpublished BIA decision allows withdrawal of erroneous concession that respondent entered without inspection, noting that it was not a tactical decision because it rendered the respondent ineligible to adjust. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Herrera Lopez, 4/15/15)
AILA DOS Liaison Q&As (4/15/15)
DOS responses to AILA/DOS liaison Q&As, which address questions relating to communication with consular posts, visa refusal letters, visa interview wait times, alternative venues for immigrant visa interviews, visa revocations, misrepresentations made by minors, E-3 adjudications, J-1s, and NVC.
National Sign-On Letter to DHS on Implementation of November 2014 PD Policy
A 4/15/15 letter from AILA and more than 100 other organizations to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson expressing concern about the implementation of the November 2014 memorandum on prosecutorial discretion (PD) and enforcement priorities.
TRAC Report Finds El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala Account for 38% of Immigration Court Filings
A TRAC report found that three Central American countries—El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—account for over a third (38 percent) of removal orders sought by DHS so far for FY2015. During FY2014, these three countries made up over half (55 percent) of filings in U.S. Immigration Court.