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
BIA Reverses Denial of Motion to Reopen Due to Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
Unpublished BIA decision granting respondent’s motion to reopen an order of removal issued in absentia, vacating prior decisions, and remanding the record, due to a claim that his prior attorney provided ineffective assistance of counsel. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Picado, 9/25/13)
DREAM Act Section Summary in S.744
AILA/AIC Summary of Section 2103, “The DREAM Act,” in Senate bill S.744, the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act.”
CA9 Remands for BIA to Grant Withholding to Gay Filipino Petitioner
The court granted in part a petition for review, reversing the BIA’s denial of withholding, and holding that the BIA erred by engaging in its own fact-finding, rather than clear error review, in evaluating the harm suffered by a gay Filipino petitioner. (Vitug v. Holder, 7/24/13)
CA9 Remands Asylum Claim for Diola from Senegal
The panel vacated the BIA’s adverse credibility finding and remanded, finding the BIA erred by drawing an adverse inference from the low level of persecution detail provided in the mistakenly filed N-400, as well as with alleged inconsistencies with the I-589. (Bassene v. Holder, 9/23/13)
BIA Remands for Further Consideration Based on Respondent’s Sentence Reduction
Unpublished BIA decision granting the motion to remand based on respondent’s sentence reduction from five years to three days’ confinement for each offense that was previously found to qualify as an aggravated felony crime of violence. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Ortega, 9/23/13)
BIA Terminates Removal Proceedings Since Intervening Case Law Affected Removability
Unpublished BIA decision terminating proceedings since intervening Supreme Court and Fifth Circuit case law affected his removability as charged and made his DUI conviction no longer an aggravated felony crime of violence. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Parada-Villegas, 9/23/13)
Immigration Judge Terminates Removal Proceedings in Abandonment Case
IJ terminates removal proceedings without prejudice after finding respondent made every effort to return to the U.S. Respondent was a returning LPR from Antigua and Barbuda when DHS served her with an NTA after she had been out of the U.S. for over four years. Courtesy of Patricia Cooper.
BIA Remands Asylum Case For Cameroon Native
Unpublished BIA decision remanding case for additional fact-finding and new decision after finding submitted evidence may be sufficient to rehabilitate the respondent’s credibility or established independently past persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution. Courtesy of David Cleveland.
Center for American Progress Report on DACA
Center for American Progress September 2013 report with nationwide analysis of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) applicants, including comparing where DACA applicants came from, which states have the most successful DACA outreach, and how DACA has worked during its first year.
CA9 Rules on Operation Streamline Proceeding
The court held that although the district court did not err under Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(b)(1) by advising the defendants of their rights en masse, it erred by not questioning the defendant individually to ensure that she understood her rights. (U.S. v. Arqueta-Ramos, 9/20/13)
CA10 Dismisses Petition from El Salvadoran Business Owner Threatened by MS 18 Gang
In a nonprecedential decision, the court concluded and dismissed the petition to review, finding that the petitioner failed to exhaust her administrative remedies and thus lacked jurisdiction to consider them. (Castellanos-Pineda, 9/20/13)
BIA Terminates Proceedings Because Conviction Not a Categorical CIMT
Unpublished BIA decision terminating proceedings upon finding that resisting arrest under Cal. Penal Code 69 is not a categorical crime involving moral turpitude and that the statute is not divisible under Descamps v. U.S. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Hernandez-Garcia, 9/20/13)
BIA Remands For Reexamination of Removability In Light of Descamps Holding
Unpublished BIA decision remanding for reconsideration of whether Maryland Code Ann. Crim. Law 3-203 is a crime of violence and whether the statute is not divisible under the intervening decisions in Descamps v. U.S. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Murray, 9/20/13)
IJ Terminates Proceedings as DHS Failed to Provide Clear Evidence Respondent was Convicted of Deportable Offense
The Court terminated proceedings, holding that under the categorical approach NY's controlled substance schedule was broader than the federal counterpart and because the record of conviction does not indicate the substance the Respondent was convicted of possessing. Courtesy of Michael Goldman.
DHS and DOS Outline New Policy on False Claims to Citizenship
DHS and DOS letters to Senator Reid outlining the agencies’ new policy that a charge of inadmissibility under 212(a)(6)(C)(ii) can only be supported if the false claim was “knowingly” made and setting forth a separate affirmative defense if the claim was made while the individual was under age 18.
CBP Memo Outlining Civil Immigration Enforcement Priorities for CBP
CBP undated memo from Commissioner Alan Bersin, outlining CBP’s civil immigration enforcement priorities as they relate to the apprehension, detention, and removal of individuals in violation of immigration law. Received by American Immigration Council in response to a FOIA submitted on 9/3/11.
CBP Policy Differences Between Exercise of Discretion and Prosecutorial Discretion
CBP undated memo outlining the differences between CBP’s policy on the use of discretion (an affirmative act of approval) and prosecutorial discretion (applies to enforcement decisions). Received by the American Immigration Council in response to a FOIA request submitted on August 3, 2011.
EOIR Notice on eRegistration Security Standards
EOIR notice on eRegistration security standards and reminder that attorneys and fully-accredited representatives who complete step one of the two-step registration process have 90 calendar days to complete step two. Individuals who practice before EOIR must complete both steps by 12/10/13.
CA9 Denies Review of Frivolous Armenian Asylum Claim
The court denied the petition for review of the BIA’s decision affirming an IJ’s determination that the petitioner knowingly filed a frivolous asylum application and that she was statutorily barred from adjustment of status and a 212(i) waiver on that basis. (Kulakchyan v. Holder, 9/18/13)
CA9 Upholds Asylum Denial for Guatemalan Rape Victim
The court upheld the BIA’s denial of asylum, finding that petitioner did not show persecution on account of real or imputed political opinion and that the attack she suffered did not occur with the acquiescence of the Guatemalan government. (Garcia-Milian v. Holder, 9/18/13, amended 2/13/14)
BIA Terminates Proceedings Due to Ineffective Assistance of Counsel in Criminal Proceedings
Unpublished BIA decision where the Board terminated proceedings following a stipulation from both parties that the respondent was no longer removable because his criminal conviction was vacated based on ineffective assistance of counsel. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Iglesias, 9/18/13)
BIA Upholds Denial for Co-Respondent With No Independent Relief
Unpublished BIA decision grants a joint motion to administratively close proceedings for one respondent with a pending visa petition, but denied the appeal for the co-respondent, who had no independent relief. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Medrano-Arias, 9/17/13)
BIA Remands After IJ Only Considered Unfavorable Factors When Exercising Voluntary Departure Discretion
Unpublished BIA decision remanding the record because the Immigration Judge denied voluntary departure solely on an apparent conviction for possession of marijuana and did not consider any of the respondent's favorable equities. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Castorena-Alonso, 9/17/13)
ICE Criminal Justice Stakeholder Forms Program
ICE information on its Criminal Justice Stakeholder Forms program, which gives criminal justice professional access to relevant and reliable information from ICE when working with undocumented individuals with obligations within the criminal justice system.
BIA Terminates Removal Proceedings After Egregious ICE Actions
Unpublished BIA decision dismissing DHS’s appeal, finding that the respondent’s detention, arrest, and interrogation were sufficiently egregious to warrant the IJ’s grant of his motion to suppress and to terminate removal proceedings. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Ixpec-Chitay, 9/16/13)