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
CA1 Denies Asylum to Chinese Petitioner
The court denied the petition to review, finding that petitioner did not establish past persecution, future persecution, nor a clear probability of future torture, based on his wife’s forced sterilization in China. (Wu v. Holder, 12/23/13)
CA1 Upholds Asylum Denial for Christian from Nigeria
The court dismissed the motion to reopen as untimely and denied the motion to reconsider, finding no evidence of legal error, nor abuse of discretion. (Saka v. Holder, 12/23/13)
CA1 Upholds Asylum Denial for Greek Petitioner from Albania
The court denied the claim for asylum, upholding the IJ and BIA conclusions that improved conditions in Albania rebutted the petitioner’s presumption of a well-founded fear of persecution based on either his democratic political opinion or Greek ethnicity. (Ruci v. Holder, 12/23/13)
Amicus Brief on Not Adopting a Broad Reading of “Misdemeanor Crime of Domestic Violence”
Amicus brief filed by ASISTA, IDP, ILRC, National Immigration Project, and WDA, urging the Supreme Court that a ruling reversing the Court of Appeals based on a broad reading of “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” could have profound effects on immigration law.
AILA Amicus Brief on Reopening Reinstated Removal Orders
AILA amicus brief urging CA7 to rehear Cordova-Soto en banc, and arguing that reopening reinstated removal orders should be permitted in cases where the original removal order was entered in violation of law or otherwise represents a gross miscarriage of justice.
EOIR Announces New Facebook Account
EOIR notice on 12/20/13 announcing that EOIR has opened a Facebook account as a second media channel to receive updates. The EOIR website will continue to be the agency’s primary source of information online.
BIA Finds Vacatur of Criminal Conviction May Warrant Reopening of In Absentia Order
Unpublished BIA decisions remands for further consideration of motion to reopen challenging entry of in absentia order following vacatur of underlying criminal conviction. (Matter of Eustate, 12/20/13) Special thanks to IRAC
Amicus Practice Pointer: §245(i) Adjustment of Status After Garfias-Rodriguez
AILA Amicus Committee practice pointer on how to successfully advocate for §245(i) adjustment of status after the Ninth Circuit’s holding in Garfias-Rodriguez v. Holder. Special thanks to Stephen Manning and Megan Kent.
AILA Quicktake #64: Obama Administration Removal Numbers Misleading
In this Quicktake, AILA Advocacy Director Greg Chen discusses the recent removal numbers that Bloomberg reported in the press and how the decline is misleading when viewed from the macro perspective.
ICE FY2013 Removal Numbers
The 12/19/13 Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) annual report on FY2013 ICE immigration removals.
CA1 Upholds Asylum Denial for Chinese Christian
The court upheld the BIA’s conclusion that petitioner failed to establish prima facie eligibility for relief because the evidence in the motion to reopen did not show a reasonable likelihood that he would be individually targeted in China based upon his religion. (Wu v. Holder, 12/18/13)
CA2 Denies Asylum to Pro-Democracy Petitioners from China
The court denied the petitions for review, concluding there was insufficient evidence to suggest that the Chinese authorities would become aware of the petitioners’ pro-democracy activities while in the U.S. or that they would be targeted on that basis. (Y.C. v. Holder, 12/18/13)
Immigration Policy Center’s Perspectives on Immigration Detainers
Immigration Policy Center’s Perspectives on the faulty legal arguments behind immigration detainers.
USCIS Request for Comments on Proposed Revisions to DACA Form I-821D (Updated 12/24/13)
USCIS 60-day request for comments on proposed revisions to Form I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), adding the ability to apply to renew DACA. Comments are due 2/18/14. Correction issued on 12/24/13. (78 FR 77696, 12/24/13) (78 FR 76637, 12/18/13)
BIA Finds Car Trouble May Justify Failure to Appear
Unpublished BIA decision vacates denial of motion to reopen order or removal issued in absentia where IJ applied per se rule against car trouble constituting exceptional circumstances justifying a failure to appear. (Matter of Haro Pena, 12/17/13) Special thanks to IRAC.
BIA Reinstates Proceedings for Former LPR Wishing to Challenge Rescission
Unpublished BIA decision vacates order granting DHS motion to terminate where respondent wishes to challenge the rescission of his LPR status by USCIS. (Matter of Malik, 12/17/13) Special thanks to IRAC.
District Court Finds Plaintiff Timely Registered for ABC Benefits
The district court denied the government’s motion to dismiss, finding facts sufficient to support plaintiff’s claim that he timely registered for ABC benefits on or before 12/31/91, even though his I-589 was stamped on 1/13/92. (Hernandez v. Napolitano, 12/17/13). Thanks to Charles Ellison.
AILA ICE Liaison Committee Meeting Q&As (12/17/13)
AILA ICE Liaison Committee questions and answers from the 12/17/13 liaison meeting with ICE, including information on access to credible fear interviews, the detention bed mandate, ATDs, detainee transfers, G-28s, medical exams, FOIA requests, PD, and communication with ICE OCC.
CA7 Denies Adjustment to Petitioner Whose Wife Failed to Maintain F-1 Status
The court dismissed the petition for review, finding that the petitioner was ineligible to adjust status under INA §245(I) and (k) based on his approved I-140 because he failed to maintain continuous lawful nonimmigrant status when his wife lost her F-1 status. (Kim v. Holder, 12/16/13)
BIA Finds Residence Cannot Be Imputed to Establish Eligibility for TPS
Unpublished BIA decision upholds denial of TPS application where respondent sought to benefit from imputation of parent’s presence and residence in U.S. (Matter of Lara, 12/16/13) Special thanks to IRAC.
CA8 Finds Petitioner Is Ineligible for Adjustment of Status
The court found the IJ and BIA did not err in concluding that the petitioner, who filed for adjustment while in removal proceedings, was ineligible for adjustment under INA §212(a)(2)(A)(i) because of his violation relating to a controlled substance. (Garcia-Gonzalez v. Holder, 12/9/13)
BIA Holds Deadline Under 245(i) Not Subject to Equitable Tolling
Unpublished BIA decision holds that the April 30, 2001, deadline to establish eligibility under Section 245(i) IS not subject to equitable tolling due to ineffective assistance of counsel. (Matter of Prasad, 12/13/13) Special thanks to IRAC.
BIA Remands Denial of Continuance Based on Analysis of 212(h) Waiver
Unpublished BIA decision remands for further consideration of continuance where IJ found respondent was unlikely to qualify for 212(h) waiver due to robbery conviction. (Matter of Lopez, 12/13/13) Special thanks to IRAC
BIA Finds Respondent Eligible for Asylum Based on FGM
Unpublished BIA decision finding respondent eligible for asylum, finding compelling reasons for being unwilling to return to Senegal based on female genital mutilation (FGM) irrespective of whether respondent has a well-founded fear of future persecution. Courtesy of Matthew Benson.
AILA/EOIR Liaison Meeting Minutes (12/12/13)
Minutes from the 12/12/13 AILA EOIR Liaison Committee meeting with EOIR. Topics include the impact of the government shutdown, unpublished BIA decisions, eRegistry and eFiling, provisional waivers, biometrics, waivers under §237(a)(1)(H), medical exams, and pre-trial pilot projects.