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
CA2 Finds Jurisdiction to Review Hardship Determination Due to Error of Law
The court remanded for evaluation of whether Petitioner established hardship to his U.S. citizen children for purposes of cancellation of removal where the record was mischaracterized to an extent amounting to an error of law. (Mendez v. Holder, 5/8/09)
AILA Liaison/NSC Meeting Minutes (5/7/09)
The 5/7/09 meeting minutes address I-140s, I-290B Processing, Labor Certifications, ability to pay, I-485s, RFEs, Portability, EAD for EOIR cases, Refugee and Asylee adjustment denials, I-90s, NSC/TSC relationship, misdirected mail, and more.
ICE and Ankle Bracelets–Better Than No Detention at All?
ICE DRO (Detention and Removal Officers) were trolling the Immigration Courtrooms this week in Atlanta looking for respondents who were appearing for their hearings, but whom had previously not been detained by ICE, and thus had no bond or restraints on their liberty. You ask, what would ICE be doin
White House Summary of Immigration-Related Funding in the FY2010 Budget
Summary prepared by the White House of proposed changes in immigration-related funding in the President’s recently released FY2010 budget.
DHS Proposes to Amend System of Records to Share Detainee Information
DHS proposes to amend the DHS/ICE-011 Removable Alien Records System to add two routine uses, which would allow ICE to share information about individuals in detention with entities that seek to provide legal educational and orientation programs. (74 FR 20719, 5/5/09)
BIA Holds Conviction is Final Despite Pending Appeal in State Court
The BIA held that a pending late-reinstated appeal does not undermine the finality of respondent's conviction as a valid predicate for removability. Matter of Cardenas Abreu, 24 I&N Dec. 795 (BIA 2009)
Supreme Court Holds Aggravated Identity Theft Statute Requires Knowledge that Identification Used or Transferred Belongs to Another Person
In a unanimous decision on May 4, 2009, The Supreme Court reversed lower courts and held that a conviction of Aggravated Identity Theft requires that an individual know that the means of identification used or transferred belongs to another person. (Flores-Figueroa v. United States, 5/4/09)
Immigration Law Advisor, April 2009 (Vol. 3, No. 4)
Immigration Law Advisor, a legal publication from EOIR, with an article on incompetent respondents in removal proceedings, federal court activity for March 2009, an article on rules of evidence in immigration court, recent BIA precedent decisions, and a regulatory update.
If Your Law Practice Includes Immigration At All, You Should Be There
How do I: 1. Find out what to do when USCIS says NVC has the file, and NVC says it doesn't? 2. Get a step-by-step rundown of how to fill out a Form I-129 and document it? 3. Find the hidden time bombs in an affidavit of support? 4. Obtain the low-down on what to […]
The New Immigration Judges–Wherefrom Art Thou?
A guest post today for AILA Board of Governor Member Amy Peck: The EOIR swore in 10 new Immigration Judges this week. The April 24, 2009 EOIR announcement states that the judges were appointed by the Attorney General after completing a rigorous application, evaluation, and interview process. Under t
Supreme Court to Consider Whether Discretionary Decision Bar Precludes Courts from Reviewing a MTR
The Supreme Court will hear a case addressing the scope of INA § 242(a)(2)(B)(ii), the bar to judicial review of discretionary decisions, and whether this section bars federal courts from reviewing motions to reopen. (Kucana v. Holder)
Accused Nazi Death Camp Guard Demjanjuk Too Frail to Be Deported Or Fraud?
On April 14, 2009 government agents executed a final order of deportation against accused Nazi Death Camp Guard John Demjanjuk of Seven Hills, Ohio. Demjanjuk taken out of his home in a wheel chair screaming in pain with his head rolled back. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo7VJKNU4I0] Hour
Family Values
I guess it's not enough to exclusively blame undocumented workers for our dysfunctional immigration system. Apparently, we need to take their kids too. The New York Times reports this morning that undocumented immigrants are losing not only their freedom, but their children, who are taken away and g
BIA Remands for Consideration of Enumerated Factors in Continuance Request
The BIA addresses factors to be considered in deciding whether a continuance request is warranted. Notes that compliance with an IJ’s case completion goals is not a proper factor in deciding a continuance request. Matter of Hashmi, 24 I&N Dec. 785 (BIA 2009)
Supreme Court Holds that Traditional Stay Factors Govern Authority to Stay Removal
The Supreme Court vacates and remands. Holds that traditional stay factors, not the 8 U. S. C. §1252(f)(2) standard, govern a court of appeals’ authority to stay an alien’s removal pending judicial review. (Nken v. Holder, 4/22/09)
New ICE Form I-246, Application for a Stay of Deportation or Removal
ICE has provided AILA Liaison with a new version of the I-246 Application for a Stay of Deportation or Removal (October 2008).
CA11 Affirms Denial of Motions to Suppress Evidence of Immigration Status Obtained in Police Custody
The court affirms denial of motions to suppress statements regarding the foreign national’s immigration status made to an ICE agent while in police custody after being arrested on unrelated drug charges, and to suppress documentary evidence. (United States v. Lopez-Garcia, 4/21/09)
BIA on Jurisdiction over Adjustments under Cuban Adjustment Act
The BIA vacates and remands, holding that IJs no longer have jurisdiction in removal proceedings to consider adjustment of status applications filed by arriving aliens who are seeking benefits under the Cuban Adjustment Act. Matter of Martinez-Montalvo, 24 I&N Dec. 778 (BIA 2009)
Immigration and the Pulitzer Prize
Today, Ryan Gabrielson and Paul Giblin of the East Valley Tribune in Mesa, Arizona were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for their series of articles of the infamous “Sheriff Joe“ of Maricopa County. The Tribune won the most prestigious award in journalism for revealing how a popular sheriff's focus
CA9 Finds Possession of Child Pornography is a Crime Involving Moral Turpitude
The court finds that possession of child pornography is a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT) and that specific intent is not required for a CIMT. Affirms order revoking naturalization for CIMT conviction within 5 years before naturalizing. (United States v. Santacruz, 4/20/09)
CA8 Finds No Abuse of Discretion in Denial of Continuance to Allow for Adjudication of Applications
The court finds IJ did not abuse discretion in denying request for ninth continuance so that USCIS could adjudicate pending I-130 and I-485 because the petitioner failed to raise the issue in her appeal to the BIA.(Hanggi v. Holder, 4/20/09)
Searching for the Truth in the Immigration Spin Cycle
Sifting through immigration rhetoric for the truth is a herculean task for even the most dedicated on the complex issue of immigration policy in the U.S. For example:1. The Human Rights Watch Report entitled “Forced Apart by the Numbers“ (April 15, 2009) notes that although federal authorities
ICE Issues Comment Request on Form 70-005
ICE information collection on Form 70-005, ICE Secure Communities Stakeholder ID Assessment Questionnaire. Comments are dues 6/15/09. (74 FR 17205, 4/14/09)
BIA Finds Failure to Prove that Conviction Was Not CIMT
The BIA held that respondent failed to meet burden of proving conviction was not for a crime involving moral turpitude in order to establish eligibility for cancellation of removal. Matter of Almanza-Arenas, 24 I&N Dec. 771 (BIA 2009)
DHS Brief on Asylum Claims Filed by Domestic Violence Victims
In an asylum case brief based on domestic violence, DHS states that applicants who have experienced domestic violence could qualify for asylum based on alternative social group formations, and proposes two formulations under which victims of domestic violence might be able to advance asylum claims.