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
VOICE: July/August 2011
The July/August 2011 issue of VOICE: An Immigration Dialogue features articles on acts that could make your client inadmissible, litigation and practice management advice from seasoned professionals, latest happenings with members, and much more!
DOJ OIL June 2011 Litigation Bulletin
DOJ Office of Immigration Litigation (OIL) June 2011 Litigation Bulletin addresses the Solicitor General’s cert petitions in CA9 imputation cases, REAL ID Act corroboration provisions, finality and reconsideration, updates on pending cases and issues, and more.
Immigration Law Advisor, May-June 2011 (Vol. 5, No. 5)
Immigration Law Advisor, a legal publication from EOIR, with articles on the Supreme Court deciding if tax fraud is “fraud” and the reason to believe standard under Section 212(a)(2)(c)(i), circuit court decisions for April and May 2011, recent BIA precedent decisions, and a regulatory update.
MPI Report on the Enforcement of Labor Standards and Low-Wage Immigrants
A July 2011 Migration Policy Institute (MPI) report on elements of effective labor standards enforcement, focusing on firms with heavy concentrations of low-wage immigrant workers, argues that labor standards enforcement should be a pillar of immigrant policymaking agendas.
CA3 on Jurisdiction Over Requests for Consent to Reapply for Admission
The court held that the immigration judge does not have jurisdiction to consider a request for consent to reapply for admission under INA §212(a)(9)(C)(ii) because Congress delegated that authority to DHS. (Sarango v. Att’y Gen. of the U.S., 6/30/11)
Prosecutorial Discretion: Monitoring Implementation of the June 17, 2011 ICE Memos
Do you have a case where the issue of prosecutorial discretion was raised after ICE released the June 17, 2011 memoranda? Help AILA and the AIC monitor implementation of the new prosecutorial discretion guidance by taking this survey.
BIA Says Maximum Possible Sentence Determines Eligibility for Petty Offense Exception
The BIA held that the maximum possible sentence for an offense, rather than the standard range under the State's sentencing guidelines, determines an alien's eligibility for the petty offense exception. Matter of Ruiz-Lopez, 25 I&N Dec. 551 (BIA 2011)
CA9 Remands, Finds Nexus in Armenian Whistleblowing Asylum Claim
The court granted the petition for review in a case involving an Armenian petitioner who faces retaliation from a notorious criminal for pursuing his prosecution and exposing his ties to corrupt government officials. (Antonyan v. Holder, 6/29/11)
CA9 Declines to Review Denial of Stay of Removal
The court found no jurisdiction to review the BIA’s interim order denying a stay of removal pending the disposition of Petitioner’s motion to reopen, because it was not part of a “final order of removal” as defined under INA §101(a)(47). (Shaboyan v. Holder, 6/29/11)
CRS Report on Asylum and “Credible Fear” Issues
A 6/29/11 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on asylum and “credible fear” issues in U.S. immigration policy provides an overview of the current asylum policy, a breakdown of source countries for asylum seekers, an analysis of approved asylum cases, and more.
CA10 Finds Jurisdiction to Review Continuance Denial in Light of Kucana
Reversing course from Yerkovich v. Ashcroft, the court found that the Supreme Court’s decision in Kucana v. Holder makes it clear that the denial of a request for a continuance is reviewable. (Jimenez-Guzman v. Holder, 6/28/11)
Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on DREAM Act
Testimony from the 6/28/11 Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security hearing on the DREAM Act.
CA9 Allows Consideration of Alien’s Admission in Determining Removability (Withdrawn)
Clarifying Cheuk Fung S-Yong, the court held that an IJ may consider an alien’s admissions regarding removability if they are corroborated by the narrow set of documents that are part of the record of conviction. (Pagayon v. Holder, 6/24/11; withdrawn 12/8/11)
Baltimore IJ Reopens Sua Sponte; Asks Parties to Address DOMA Issues
The IJ reopened proceedings to hear additional evidence in support of withholding of removal and directed the parties to address recent developments relating to the ability of same-sex spouses to benefit from visa petitions at the master hearing. Courtesy of Lavi S. Soloway.
ICE’s Union “On The Water Front”
The ICE union's reaction to ICE Director John Morton's prosecutorial discretion memorandum shows that the union leadership, apparently out of touch with its own members, is hell bent on maintaining the status quo-indiscriminate arrest, detention, prosecution, and deportation of immigrants-without th
BIA Addresses K-2 Age Out Eligibility for Adjustment of Status
The BIA held that the derivative child of a fiancée visa holder is not ineligible for adjustment of status simply by virtue of having turned 21 after admission to the U.S. on a K-2 visa. Matter of Le, 25 I&N Dec. 541 (BIA 2011)
ICE Union Leaders Speak Out Against Prosecutorial Discretion Memo
A 6/23/11 press release of the National ICE Council calls the 6/17/11 Morton memorandum on prosecutorial discretion a “law enforcement nightmare” and “just one of many new ICE policies in queue aimed at stopping the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.”
Jose Antonio Vargas Takes His Seat
The success of a civil rights movement depends on people who are willing to take extraordinary personal risk. Yesterday Jose Antonio Vargas, the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, did just that by outing himself as an undocumented immigrant in the New York Times, the nation's leading newspaper of r
CA9 Finds California Concealed Weapon Conviction Is a Firearms Offense
The court held that a conviction for carrying a concealed weapon under California Penal Code §12025(a) is categorically a removable firearms offense under INA §237(a)(2)(C). (Gil v. Holder, 6/22/11)
CA10 Says Constitutionality of Plea Is Not an Element of Proving “Conviction”
The court rejected Petitioner’s argument that in light of Padilla v. Kentucky, the government must prove in immigration proceedings that the alien received constitutionally adequate advice about the consequences of his criminal plea. (Waugh v. Holder, 6/22/11)
CA11 Rejects Ineffective Assistance Claim Where Counsel Conceded Removability
The court held that substantial evidence supports the BIA’s finding that counsel made a reasonable strategic decision in conceding removability for Petitioner’s misrepresentation where Petitioner was eligible for §237(a)(1)(H) waiver. (Ali v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 6/22/11)
EOIR Releases Flyer to Help in the Fight against UPIL
EOIR press release announcing a new flyer to help in the fight against the unauthorized practice of immigration law (UPIL), which will be distributed by all 59 immigration courts to respondents in removal proceedings. A copy of the flyer is attached to the announcement.
ICE Announces the Arrest of More Than 2,400 Undocumented Individuals in Cross Check Operation
ICE press release announcing that more than 2,400 undocumented individuals with prior criminal convictions were arrested in May 2011 as a result of a targeted Cross Check operation which was carried out across all 50 states over a seven-day period.
BIA Remands for Further Fact Finding in Domestic Violence Asylum Case
In an unpublished decision, the BIA remanded for entry of a new decision, calling for further factual development and arguments specific to the gender-based asylum claim, consistent with the Attorney General’s directive in Matter of R-A-. Courtesy of Aleksander Milch.
DHS Responds to AILA Regarding Treatment of Cases Impacted by DOMA
A 6/21/11 letter from Kelly Ryan, DHS Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, stating that until DOMA is repealed or struck down, DHS will continue to exercise its discretion in individual cases, but will not grant blanket relief or hold DOMA cases in abeyance.