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
CA9 Says Corroboration Not Required When Determining Timeliness of Asylum Claim
The en banc court found that the BIA improperly imported the corroboration requirement of INA §208(b)(1)(B)(ii), governing the merits of asylum, into §208(a)(2)(B), requiring applications to be filed within one year of arrival in the U.S. (Singh v. Holder, 6/17/11)
ICE Memo on Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion Consistent with the Civil Immigration Enforcement Priorities
ICE 6/17/11 memorandum by Director John Morton issuing guidance to ICE personnel on the exercise of prosecutorial discretion. The memo also sets forth which agency employees may exercise prosecutorial discretion and what factors should be considered.
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) Complaint Form
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) Complaint Form in English for individuals or organizations who believe civil rights violations connected to Secure Communities have occurred. The form is also available in eight other languages on the DHS website.
ICE Memo on Prosecutorial Discretion Regarding Certain Victims, Witnesses, and Plaintiffs
ICE 6/17/11 memo from Director John Morton setting policy on the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in removal cases involving victims and witnesses of crime, including domestic violence, and individuals involved in non-frivolous efforts related to civil rights protection.
ICE Revised Immigration Detainer Form I-247 (6/11) (Updated 9/6/11)
ICE revised immigration detainer Form I-247, issued in June 2011. The form instructs that state and local authorities are not to detain an individual for more than 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays, and requires local law enforcement to provide a copy to detainees.
DHS Plan for State and Local Law Enforcement Secure Communities Trainings
The DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) and ICE outline of the plan for a series of training /awareness briefings on the Secure Communities program designed for use by state and local law enforcement agency personnel during daily briefings.
CRCL/ICE Overview of Quarterly Statistical Monitoring of Secure Communities
CRCL/ICE overview of the plan to analyze Secure Communities data on a quarterly basis beginning in June 2011, to identify law enforcement agencies that might be engaged in improper police practices.
AILA Comments on DHS Promise to Reform Enforcement with New Policies
AILA statement on DHS 6/17/11 written policies directing ICE officers, agents, and attorneys to use prosecutorial discretion to implement its priorities for immigration enforcement as well as reforms to the Secure Communities program.
CA3 Directs BIA to Grant Withholding to Uzbek Nationals
The court directed the BIA to grant withholding of removal without remand finding that despite two opportunities, the BIA failed to support its conclusion that Petitioners are a danger to the U.S. with substantial evidence. (Yusupov v. Att’y Gen. of the U.S., 6/16/11)
CA8 on False Claims to U.S. Citizenship by Unaccompanied Minors
Over dissent, the court vacated the removal order and remanded to the BIA to clarify the standard it uses in applying the inadmissibility provision for a false claim to U.S. citizenship, INA §212(a)(6)(C)(ii), to unaccompanied minors. (Sandoval v. Holder, 6/14/11)
HRW Report on Transfers of Detained Immigrants
Human Rights Watch report entitled “A Costly Move,” analyzes 12 years of data and finds that transfers separate detained immigrants, including LPRs, refugees, and undocumented people from the attorneys, witnesses, and evidence they need to defend against deportation.
DHS Memo on Secure Communities Complaints Protocol
DHS 6/14/11 memorandum by Margo Schlanger of the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) and Gary Mead of ICE, setting out how CRCL and ICE will address civil rights complaints involving state and local law enforcement and ICE's Secure Communities program.
CA8 Rejects §245(i) Claim for K-1 Entrant Who Did Not Marry Petitioner
The court held that 8 CFR §245.1(c)(6)(i) is a permissible construction of INA §245 and bars a K-1 visa holder from adjusting status on any basis other than marriage to the U.S. citizen petitioner notwithstanding §245(i). (Birdsong v. Holder, 6/13/11)
BIA on Derivative Eligibility for Late Initial TPS Registration
The BIA held that an applicant for late initial TPS registration filing as the child of a TPS-eligible alien need only establish that he or she qualified as a child at the time of the initial registration period. Matter of N-C-M-, 25 I&N Dec. 535 (BIA 2011)
TRAC Report Shows Unlawful Re-Entry as Most Common Lead Charge
Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) report finds that 18,552 new unlawful re-entry prosecutions were reported during the first half of FY2011, based on data from DOJ, making unlawful re-entry under 8 U.S.C. §1326 the most commonly recorded lead charge.
ICE Exercises Prosecutorial Discretion in Case Involving Same-Sex Spouse of USC
In a 6/10/11 joint motion, ICE Chief Counsel exercised its prosecutorial discretion by moving to administratively close proceedings against the same-sex spouse of a U.S. citizen with a pending I-130. The IJ granted the motion on 6/13/11. Courtesy of Lavi S. Soloway.
AILA Amicus Brief Urges BIA to Reconsider Administrative Closure Policy
AILA amicus brief urging the BIA to reconsider and modify its previous decisions requiring no opposition by either party before the immigration judge or BIA can administratively close a case.
BIA Addresses Whistleblowing as a Basis for Asylum
The BIA held that retaliation for opposition to state corruption may form the basis for a claim based on political opinion if, post-REAL ID, the actual or imputed anti-corruption belief was one central reason for the harm. Matter of N-M-, 25 I&N Dec. 526 (BIA 2011)
USCIS Asylum Division Memo on Notifying Certain Asylum Applicants How To Seek Release From Detention
USCIS Asylum Division memo dated 6/9/11 regarding updated information notification of ICE's parole guidelines to arriving aliens found to have a credible fear of persecution or torture, including copies of the updated information notification.
AILA Summary of Keep Our Communities Safe Act of 2011 (H.R. 1932)
AILA summary of the Keep Our Communities Safe Act of 2011 (H.R. 1932), a bill that would expand the use of immigration detention.
CA2 on Burden of Proof and Evidence of Good Faith Marriage
The court held that the burden is on the alien to prove a good faith marriage for waiver of the joint removal of conditions and that the IJ did not err in attaching significance to the couple’s post-marriage actions. (Boluk v. Holder, 6/7/11)
TRAC Report on the Growing Immigration Case Backlog Despite Additional Judge Appointments
Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) report finding that the number of cases awaiting resolution before the immigration courts reached a new all-time high of 275,316 by the end of May 2011, despite the addition of 44 new immigration judges to the bench.
EOIR Responds to AILA Regarding the Application of DOMA in Proceedings
A 6/6/11 letter from Juan P. Osuna, Director, EOIR, responding to a 4/6/11 letter from AILA and other organizations, stating that until the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is repealed or struck down EOIR will continue to apply DOMA as interpreted in the immigration context.
Grand Jury Indicts Couple on Charges Involving Domestic Servitude
Federal grand jury indictment charging a MD couple with forced labor conspiracy and harboring a domestic worker for financial gain. The indictment alleges the defendants procured a fraudulent B-1 visa to bring the victim to the U.S. to work as their domestic servant. (U.S. v. Edwards, 6/6/11)
DHS PIA for the Automated Threat Prioritization Web Service
DHS/ICE Privacy Impact Assessment describing the general functionality of the Automated Threat Prioritization (ATP) web service, which receives, processes, and transmits criminal history information about individuals who are the subjects of enforcement actions.