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 Clarifies Almanza on Conviction for Crime Involving Moral Turpitude
The BIA held that a conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude for which a sentence of a year or longer may be imposed renders petitioner ineligible for cancellation of removal, regardless of eligibility for petty offense exception. Matter of Cortez, 25 I&N Dec. 301 (BIA 2010)
CA2 on BIA Jurisdiction to Reopen Under the Departure Bar
The court held that the BIA did not err in concluding that the departure bar under 8 CFR §1003.2(d) divested it of jurisdiction to consider a sua sponte motion to reopen where the petitioner had already been removed. (Zhang v. Holder, 8/12/10)
CA7 Finds CIMT Charge Does Not Impact Aggravated Felony Bar to Relief
CA7 held that a petitioner was ineligible for a §212(c) waiver, finding that if he was removable on an aggravated felony charge, it was irrelevant whether he might be eligible for a waiver based on his separate charge for a CIMT. (Mancillas-Ruiz v. Holder, 8/11/10)
CA6 Says Petitioner’s Series of Job Losses in Kyrgyzstan Did Not Amount to Persecution
The court upheld the BIA’s denial of the petitioner’s asylum claim, finding that her series of job losses, which were a result of her opposition to the corruption of the wife of the former president of Kyrgyzstan, did not rise to the level of persecution. (Japarkulova v. Holder, 8/11/10)
CA7 Reverses Denial of Colombian Asylum Claim
The court granted the petition for review and reversed the BIA’s denial of the petitioner’s asylum claim, holding that the petitioner was persecuted in the past on account of her anti-FARC political opinion. (Martinez-Buendia v. Holder, 8/10/10)
CA1 Dismisses Cancellation Case for Lack of Jurisdiction
The court found no jurisdiction to review the denial of cancellation of removal where the claimed error of law was not raised before the IJ or the BIA and other claims were challenges to factual findings. (Santana-Medina v. Holder, 8/10/10)
CA9 Discusses Time Calculation for Filing Petition for Review
The day after Thanksgiving is a legal holiday for purposes of calculating time for the filing of a petition for review under Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure 26(a). (Yepremyan v. Holder, 8/10/10)
BIA Finds Extreme Hardship to Teenage Daughter with Special Education Needs
Unpublished BIA decision finding respondent eligible for cancellation, as he established that his teenage daughter with special education needs and a young child would experience exceptional and extremely unusual hardship if he were removed. Courtesy of Diana M. Bailey.
ICE Request for Public Comment on Immigration Detainer Policy
ICE issued a request for public comments on a draft immigration detainer policy. ICE is interested in an assessment of how this policy would affect individuals, communities, the operation of the criminal justice system, and law enforcement partners. Comments are due 9/30/10.
CA1 Remands Citing DHS Child Asylum Guidelines
The court vacated the panel opinion and BIA decision with advice to the BIA to remand to the IJ for evaluation of the Honduran asylum claim in light of DHS Guidelines for Children’s Asylum Claims. Vacated 4/6/10 opinion follows order. (Mejilla-Romero v. Holder, 8/6/10)
CA7 Finds Failure to Appeal BIA Asylum Denial Limits Review
The court denied the petition for review and found that because petitioner did not appeal from the decision of the BIA on his asylum claim, the court was limited to reviewing the denial of his motion to reopen and reconsider (Victor v. Holder, 8/6/10)
CA7 Finds Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies in Withholding Claim
The court dismissed the petition for review, finding that the petitioner failed to exhaust administrative remedies by not preserving the individual-persecution argument for his withholding of removal claim on appeal to the BIA. (Aguilar-Mejia v. Holder, 8/6/10)
CA8 Says District Court May Review I-130 Denial
In light of the Supreme Court decision Kucana v. Holder, the court held that the bar to judicial review of discretionary decisions under INA §242(a)(2)(B)(ii) does not preclude district court review of an I-130 denial. (Ginters v. Frazier, 8/5/10)
Summary of the Emergency Border Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010 (H.R. 5875)
AILA summary of the Emergency Border Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010 (H.R. 5875) as amended by the Senate on 8/5/10.
Senate Passes $600 Million Emergency Border Security Bill
On 8/5/10, the Senate amended and passed the Emergency Border Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010 (H.R. 5875).
CA8 Finds Misuse of a Social Security Number is a Crime of Moral Turpitude
The court gave deference to the BIA’s interpretation and found reasonable its conclusion that misuse of a social security number in violation of 42 USC §408(a)(7)(B) is a crime involving moral turpitude. (Guardado-Garcia v. Holder, 8/4/10)
CA8 Finds §212(a)(9)(C)(i)(I) Inadmissibility Trumps §245(i)
The BIA’s decision in Matter of Briones, which held that aliens inadmissible under INA §212(a)(9)(C)(i)(I) are not eligible for §245(i) adjustment of status, was a reasonable interpretation of ambiguous statutory provisions. (Renteria-Ledesma v. Holder, 8/4/10)
CA2 on the Fugitive Disentitlement Doctrine
The court held the government's motion to dismiss based on the fugitive disentitlement doctrine in abeyance, finding that the motion is more appropriately considered after the parties have fully briefed and argued the merits of the case. (Wu v. Holder, 8/4/10)
CA6 Finds BIA Rejection of Pro Se Brief Did Not Prejudice Decision
The court denied the petition for review, finding that the petitioner failed to demonstrate prejudice where the BIA rejected his pro se brief and he failed to resubmit the brief when he obtained counsel and filed the motion to reconsider. (Ikharo v. Holder, 8/2/10)
CA6 on Ineffective Assistance of Counsel and Equitable Tolling
The court remanded an ineffective of assistance of counsel claim in an asylum case, holding that the BIA abused its discretion in finding that petitioner did not show due diligence. (Mezo v. Holder, 8/2/10)
EOIR Opens Immigration Court in Pearsall, Texas
EOIR press release on the opening of the Pearsall Immigration Court in Texas including the mailing address for court filings, court location, hours of operation and telephone number.
ICE Interim Policy on Immigration Detainers
ICE policy memo, effective 8/2/10, establishing ICE’s interim policy on the issuance of civil immigration detainers, including when immigration officers can issue detainers, the procedures immigration officers should use to issue detainers, and more.
USCIS Response to AILA Inquiry on Draft Internal Memo Leak
USCIS statement regarding the unauthorized release of a draft internal memorandum discussing administrative relief options in the absence of comprehensive immigration reform.
TRAC Finds Current ICE Removals Exceed Numbers under Bush Administration
TRAC report finding that ICE data shows a 10% increase between the number of noncitizens removed during the first nine months of FY2010 as the result of ICE enforcement compared to the same period in FY2008, the last fiscal year of the Bush administration.
DOJ OIL July 2010 Litigation Bulletin
DOJ Office of Immigration Litigation July 2010 Bulletin covers the application of the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule in removal proceedings, Guatemalan women as a particular social group for purposes of asylum, and summaries of court decisions.