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
Minutes of AILA USCIS Liaison Meeting March 23, 2006
USCIS discusses various liaison topics: H-1B eligibility, EB-2 and EB-3 educational equivalencies, I-90 biometrics, nunc pro tunc reinstatement for dependents, I-765 and I-131 extension, change of status (L-1B to L-1A), naturalization.
BIA Refuses Reopening on Forced Sterilization Claim
The BIA held that an alien seeking to reopen removal proceedings based on a claim that the birth of a second child in the U.S. will result in the alien’s forced sterilization in China cannot establish prima facie eligibility for relief. Matter of C-C-, 23 I&N Dec. 899 (BIA 2006)
BIA Rules on Cancellation of Removal and Continuous Physical Presence Requirement
The BIA held that the requirement that an applicant for cancellation of removal must demonstrate statutory eligibility for that relief prior to the service of a notice to appear applies only to the continuous physical presence requirement. Matter of Bautista Gomez, 23 I&N Dec. 893 (BIA 2006)
CA1 Finds Stop-Time Rule Applies Retroactively
The court found that the stop-time rule under INA §240A(d)(1)(B) applied retroactively to Petitioner’s 1995 marriage fraud conviction to end the accrual of continuous physical presence for suspension. (Peralta v. Gonzales, 3/23/06)
Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Retroactivity of Reinstatement Statute
The Court heard arguments in the first immigration case to come before the newly-constituted Roberts’ Court. The issue in the case is whether the current reinstatement provision applies to a person who reentered the United States illegally before the effective date of IIRIRA, April 1, 1997.
EOIR Responses to AILA's Liaison Questions (3/22/06)
Liaison issues addressed with EOIR included unanswered motions, the 1-800 telephone system, absentia orders, unfiled NTAs, e-payment of fees, circuit court remands, biometrics, briefing schedules, consumer protection, case completion guidelines, and motions to terminate under the Howard memo.
CA9 Upholds IJ’s Finding of No Past Persecution But Reverses Finding of No Well-Founded Fear of Future Persecution
The court upheld the finding that Petitioner had not suffered past persecution but found that her fear of future harm, based on increasingly severe threats made in Peru by Shining Path during a seven-month period six years ago, was well-founded. (Canales-Vargas v. Gonzales, 3/21/06)
CA2 Says IJ Erred in Denying Asylum for Lack of Doctrinal Knowledge
The court held that the IJ erred in finding Petitioner lacked credibility due to his limited knowledge of Christian doctrine without assessing the genuineness of his Christian beliefs. (Rizal v. Gonzales, 3/21/06)
CIS Ombudsman’s Recommendation on NTA Issuance
CIS Ombudsman’s 3/20/06 recommendation that USCIS standardize its policy on issuing Notices to Appear (NTAs) to provide that NTAs be issued and filed with the immigration court in all cases where, as a result of adjustment of status denial, the applicant is out of status.
Section-by-Section Summary of S. 2454
A section-by-section summary of the Securing America’s Borders Act (S. 2454), introduced by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) on March 16. The summary was prepared by Frist’s office.
CA2 Finds No Well-founded Fear of Persecution in China
The court denied asylum where Petitioner based his claim on the fear that he would be arrested and sent to a labor camp for twice distributing pro-democracy flyers when he was 16 years old. (Lin v. Gonzales, 3/17/06)
CA9 Holds That Applicants for Admission, Including Asylum Seekers, Cannot Be Indefinitely Detained
The court held that the indefinite detention of applicants for admission “is unreasonable, unjustified, and in violation of federal law,” and granted Petitioner’s motion for immediate release under FRAP 23(b). (Nadarajah v. Gonzales, 3/17/06)
Text of the Securing America’s Borders Act
Text of the Securing America’s Borders Act (S. 2454), introduced by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) on 3/16/06.
CA2 Finds No Jurisdiction to Review Denial of Adjustment and §212(h) Waiver
The court held that INA §242(a)(2)(B)(i) barred review of the denial of an application for adjustment of status and §212(h) waiver because such denials are committed to the Attorney General’s discretion. (Bugayong v. INS, 3/15/06)
CA2 Rejects Adverse Credibility Determination in Russian Asylum Claim
The court found that six of the seven bases given by the IJ for his adverse credibility determination were erroneous, and noted that the IJ’s decision contained misstatements of Petitioner’s testimony and flawed reasoning. (Pavlova v. INS, 3/14/06)
CA9 Vacates Motion to Reopen Denial Issued Before the End of the 90-Day Filing Period (Updated 4/10/06)
The court struck down the BIA’s summary denial of a skeletal motion to reopen, in which counsel indicated an intention to file a brief and additional documentation, before the end of the 90-day filing window. (Yeghiazaryanv v. Gonzales, 3/10/06)
BIA Finds that Adjustment Can Not Be Based on a Previously Used Visa Petition
The BIA held that an application for adjustment of status cannot be based on an approved visa petition that has already been used by the beneficiary to obtain adjustment of status or admission as an immigrant. Matter of Villarreal-Zungia, 23 I&N Dec. 886 (BIA 2006)
EOIR's Automated Telephone Case Status Information System
EOIR notice discusses how to access the automated telephone case status information system.
EOIR Attempts to Justify 2002 Restructuring
Release from the Executive Office for Immigration Review attempts to justify the the "streamlining" provisions implemented in 2002.
EOIR Notice Regarding Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests
EOIR notice provides information about submitting Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
Sign-On Letter to Senate Opposing Provisions in Chairman’s Mark That Would Harm Asylum Seekers
Letter signed by 84 organizations and 117 individuals and delivered to the Senate on 3/6/06, opposing provisions in the Chairman’s Mark that would harm “vulnerable populations, including asylum-seekers, children, trafficking victims, and others seeking protection in the United States.”
CA9 Says Statutory Rape is Not a Per Se Crime of Violence (Updated 4/10/06)
The court held that, where the minor consents, a conviction for statutory rape under California Penal Code §261.5(c) is not a crime of violence because it does not involve a substantial risk of violence in its commission. (Valencia v. Gonzales, 3/6/06)
CA9 Holds Voluntary Departure Must Be “Knowing and Voluntary” Before it Breaks Continuous Physical Presence
Voluntary departure only breaks continuous physical presence for cancellation purposes when there is substantial evidence of the order and the person has knowingly and voluntarily consented to, the terms of the VD agreement. (Ibarra-Flores v. Gonzales, 3/6/06)
CA2 Says Women Sold into Marriage in China Is a Social Group
The court found that women who have been sold into marriage and who live in a part of China where forced marriages are considered valid and enforceable is a particular social group for purposes of asylum. (Gao v. Gonzales, 3/3/06)
CA8 Says Pre-IIRIRA Advance Parole Regulation is Not Ultra Vires to Suspension of Deportation Provision
The court rejected Petitioner’s claim that the advance parole regulation, which mandated placement in exclusion proceedings thus preventing him from seeking suspension of deportation, was ultra vires to the suspension provision.(Geach v. Chertoff, 3/3/06)