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
AILA's Take on Family Detention
AILA calls on the Obama administration to stop the mass detention and rapid deportation of Central American mothers and children in this backgrounder document.
AILA's Take on Bond for Detained Families
AILA backgrounder on the Obama Administration’s decision to denying bond to all Central American families being detained.
House Briefing on Family Detention
A 9/22/14 AILA-sponsored briefing in the House on family detention.
ICE to Open Additional Facility in South Texas to House Adults with Children
ICE announcement that it plans to open and operate a new facility in early November in Dilley, Texas to detain adults with children in response to the influx of individuals apprehended along the Southwest border. Facility has capacity for 2,400 individuals.
ICE Shares Stories from Artesia Detention Facility Demonstrating Humanitarian Mission
ICE press release sharing the experiences ICE employees at the Family Residential Facility in Artesia. Stories included how a HSI special agent used his skills as an EMT to help a toddler experiencing a seizure and how agents and officers have been teaching children there American football.
EOIR to Close El Centro, California Immigration Court
EOIR announcement that it will close its El Centro Immigration Court in California on September 30, 2014, as a result of DHS’s decision to close this location as a primary place of detention for respondents in removal proceedings, and the new hearing location will be the Imperial Immigration Court.
AILA Quicktake #97: Deputy Secretary Mayorkas' Speech and Artesia Hearings
AILA's Director of Advocacy Greg Chen sits down to provide a recap on Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas' appearance at the National Press Club this week. Chen also discusses the immigration court proceedings happening for detainees in Artesia.
Letter to Vice President Biden on Pro Bono Representation
A 9/19/14 letter from AILA and other legal services organizations urging the Administration to take action to remove impediments to access to counsel for children and families.
BIA Holds IJ Should Have Reviewed Initial I-485
Unpublished BIA vacates denial of I-485 due lack of healthcare worker certification and instructs IJ to determine whether resubmitted I-485 should be treated as renewed application and whether a continued offer of employment exists. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Kim, 9/19/14)
AILA Amicus Brief Requesting BIA to Reexamine Adoption of Circumstance-Specific Methodology
AILA amicus brief to the BIA requesting the reexamination of its adoption of a circumstance-specific inquiry for the exception clause of the controlled substance ground of removability in light of Moncrieffe v. Holder and the continued validity of Matter of Davey.
CA9 Finds CHS §11351 Conviction Is Neither Aggravated Felony Nor Controlled Substance Offense (Withdrawn) (Updated 10/20/14)
The court vacated the removal order, applying the modified categorical approach and finding that the conviction under §11351 of the California Health and Safety Code (CHS) was neither an aggravated felony nor a controlled substance offense. (Medina v. Holder, 9/19/14; withdrawn 10/10/14)
CA3 Holds Pennsylvania Child Endangerment Conviction Is Not a CIMT
The court applied the categorical approach and held that the least culpable conduct criminalized under §4304(a)(1) of Pennsylvania’s child endangerment statute did not implicate a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT). (Hernandez-Cruz v. Att'y Gen., 9/4/14)
CA11 Says Silence in DOS Reports Cannot Rebut Evidence of Torture of Returned Asylum Seekers
The court vacated and remanded the 2013 order of removal, concluding that the silence in the DOS Country Reports could not, without more, rebut evidence presented that petitioner would suffer persecution as a failed asylum seeker if returned to Sri Lanka. (Gaksakuman v. Att’y Gen., 9/18/14)
BIA Distinguishes Moncrieffe and Reaffirms Matter of Davey
The BIA held the exception in INA §237(a)(2)(B)(i) calls for a circumstance-specific inquiry into the character of the unlawful conduct on a single occasion, not a categorical inquiry into the elements of a single statutory crime. Matter of Dominguez-Rodriguez, 26 I&N Dec. 408 (BIA 2014)
BIA Says IJ Erred in Denying Continuance and Former Attorney Did Not Act Frivolously
Unpublished BIA decision remanding and permitting respondent to seek voluntary departure, holding IJ erred in denying request for a continuance, IJ did not err in denying administrative closure, and former attorney did not act frivolously in pursuing these requests. Courtesy of Jordan G. Forsythe.
BIA Says Aggravated Felony Bar Applies to Conditional Permanent Resident Admitted at POE
The BIA held an alien admitted at a port of entry (POE) as a conditional permanent resident pursuant to §216(a) is “lawfully admitted for permanent residence” and is barred from an §212(h) waiver, if he was later convicted of an aggravated felony. Matter of Paek, 26 I&N Dec. 403 (BIA 2014)
BIA Scolds Immigration Judge for Criticizing Attorney
Unpublished BIA decision criticizes IJ for accusing respondent’s attorney of filing frivolous motions for continuance or administrative closure and states that great care must be taken when suggesting an attorney’s conduct is unprofessional. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Perez, 9/17/14)
BIA Orders Further Evaluation of Respondent’s Mental Competency
Unpublished BIA decision grants motion to reopen filed by DHS and orders further assessment of respondent’s mental competency. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Davila, 9/17/14)
CA3 Holds Pennsylvania Reckless Endangerment Conviction Is Not a CIMT
The court granted the petition and vacated the removal order, applying the categorical approach and concluding that the least culpable conduct under §2705 of Pennsylvania’s reckless endangerment statute did not implicate a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT). (Mahn v. Att'y Gen., 9/17/14)
EOIR Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Custody and Bond Proceedings Representation
EOIR notice of proposed rulemaking to amend the regulations to allow a representative to enter an appearance in custody and bond proceedings without such an appearance constituting an entry of appearance for all Immigration Court proceedings. Comments are due by 11/17/14. (79 FR 55659, 9/17/14)
EOIR Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Pro Bono Legal Services Providers List
EOIR notice of proposed rulemaking to change the name of the “List of Free Legal Services Providers” and to enhance the eligibility requirements for organizations, private attorneys, and referral services to be included in the List. Comments are due by 11/17/14. (79 FR 55662, 9/17/14)
AILA Letter to Congress on Artesia
A 9/16/14 AILA letter to members of Congress urging action on the Artesia, NM family detention center.
AILA Letter to President Obama on Artesia
A 9/16/14 AILA letter to President Obama urging the closing of the Artesia, NM family detention center.
CA6 Dismisses Motion to Reopen for Lack of Jurisdiction
The court found it lacked jurisdiction to review the BIA’s denial of the petitioner’s second motion to reopen because of humanitarian factors, finding that the exercise of the BIA’s sua sponte authority was discretionary and not subject to judicial review. (Rais v. Holder, 9/16/14)
CA7 Holds Stop-Time Rule May Not Be Applied Retroactively
The court found that the stop-time rule of INA §240A(d)(1) would have an impermissible retroactive effect if it were applied to petitioner’s 1995 drug offense, and that he was eligible for cancellation since he accumulated the seven years of continuous residence. (Jeudy v. Holder, 9/15/14)