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 Denies Asylum to Admitted Member of Mujahedin
The BIA held that the USA PATRIOT Act does not change the standard for determining asylum or withholding of removal — that there is reasonable ground to believe that an alien is engaged in, or is likely to engage in, terrorist activity or is a danger to the U.S. (Matter of U–H–, 4/5/02)
BIA Overrules Precedent; Says DUI Is Not a Crime of Violence
The BIA held that driving under the influence in violation of Massachusetts law is not a felony involving a substantial risk that physical force against a person or property of another may be used and it is not a crime of violence. (Matter of Ramos, 4/4/02)
BIA on "Exceptional and Extremely Unusual" Hardship
The BIA held that for purposes of non-LPR cancellation, the respondent must demonstrate hardship that is substantially different from or beyond that which would normally be expected from the deportation of an alien with close family members in the U.S. (Matter of Andazola-Rivas, 4/3/02)
Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief
Sample petition for writ of habeas corpus to remedy unlawful detention and enjoin Respondents from continuing to deny Petitioner an individualized bond hearing. (April 2002) (Complaint, Amendment, Other Pleading)
AILF Amicus Brief to BIA on Reopening Based on Fundamental Change in Law
BIA request to appear as amicus curiae and brief in support of Board's exercise of sua sponte authority to reopen a respondent's case due to a fundamental change in the law.
BIA Dismisses CAT Claim for Haitian Man
The BIA held that an alien seeking protection under CAT must establish that it is more likely than not that he will be tortured in the country of removal, and that evidence of torture must consist of five elements set forth at 8 CFR §208.18(a). (Matter of J-E-, 3/22/02)
Sign-On Letter Opposing Proposed Regulatory Changes to the BIA
AILA's 3/20/02 sign-on letter where numerous individuals voice their opposition to proposed regulatory changes to the BIA including concerns over measures that make single-Member review the norm and implement a backlog elimination transition period that sacrifices fairness for efficiency.
AILA’s Comments on the Proposed BIA Reform Rule
AILA’s final comments on the Attorney General’s proposal to make structural and procedural changes at the Board of Immigration Appeals, including cutting the number of Board Member positions from 23 to 11.
BIA Excuses Minor for Failing to File for Asylum
The BIA held that the unaccompanied minor who was in INS custody pending removal proceedings during the 1-year period following his arrival in the U.S. established extraordinary circumstances excusing his failure to file for asylum within 1 year. (Matter of Y-C-, 3/11/02)
EOIR/AILA Liaison Meeting (3/7/02)
Approved report from the March 7, 2002, AILA/EOIR Liaison Meeting. Topics included coercive family planning policy cases, asylum EAD clock, and issues of misconduct by private practitioners and judges.
BIA Revisits Removal Due to Marriage, But with Conditions
The BIA held that a properly filed motion to reopen for adjustment based on a marriage entered into after commencement of proceedings may be granted in the exercise of discretion, notwithstanding the pendency of a visa petition. (Matter of Velarde-Pacheco, 3/6/02)
AG Says Drug Trafficking Offenses are Presumptively "Particularly Serious"
The Attorney General reversed three BIA decisions and held that drug trafficking offenses presumptively constitute particularly serious crimes under INA 241(b)(3)(B)(ii). (Matter of Y-L-, 3/5/02)
Bush Administration Proposed Changes to BIA Threaten Due Process
AILA press release on proposed changes to the BIA, asking the Attorney General to promote reform that affirms the independence and impartiality of the Board of Immigration Appeals.
DOJ Proposed Rule to Enact Procedural Reforms at the BIA
DOJ proposed rule that would make a number of procedural reforms at the Board of Immigration Appeals, including cutting the number of BIA Members from 19 to 11.(67 FR 7309, 2/19/02)
Advance Copy of DOJ Proposed Rule to Enact Procedural Reforms at the BIA
The Justice Dept. has filed with the Office of the Federal Register a proposed rule that would make a number of procedural reforms at the Board of Immigration Appeals, including cutting the number of BIA Members from 19 to 11.
BIA on Impact of Deferred Adjudication of Guilt
The BIA held that an alien whose adjudication of guilt was deferred under Texas law following a plea of guilty to possession of a controlled substance is considered "convicted" for immigration purposes. (Matter of Salazar-Regino, 2/14/02)
Letter from BIA Requesting Reconsideration of DUI Rulings
A March 13, 2002 letter from BIA Chairman, responding to letter from AILF and AILA member Tom Hutchins, urging BIA to reconsider Board precedent on the issue of whether a DUI conviction is an aggravated felony.
Sign-On Letter to the Attorney General Regarding BIA Reform
A February 11, 2002, letter to Attorney General Ashcroft, signed by 53 national and local organizations, expressing concerns about the proposed regulatory changes to the Board of Immigration Appeals that were announced on February 6, 2002.
Administrative Closure for Aliens Eligible for TPS and/or DED
A 2/7/02, memo from Dea Carpenter, Deputy General Counsel (INS) instructing that INS should agree to administratively close proceedings involving individuals who are prima facie eligible for temporary protected status (TPS) and/or deferred enforced departure (DED).
AILA Testimony on BIA Reform
Testimony of AILA Member Stephen Yale-Loehr before the House Immigration Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims on the Administration’s proposal to change the Board of Immigration Appeals.
DOJ Guidance on Absconder Apprehension Initiative
A 1/25/02 memo from the Deputy Attorney General sets out guidance to the various DOJ units regarding apprehension and removal of persons subject to a final order who failed to appear for removal.
BIA Finds Possession of a Firearm by a Felon Is an Aggravated Felony
The BIA held that possession of a firearm by a felon in violation of Cal. Penal Code §12021(a)(1) is an aggravated felony under INA §101(a)(43)(E)(ii). (Matter of Vasquez-Muniz, 1/15/02)
INS Reopens Comment Period for 1998 Juvenile Processing Rule
INS has reopened the comment period to a July 24, 1998 proposed rule that would, among other things, establish procedures for processing juveniles in Service custody. Comments under the reopened period are due by March 15, 2002. (67 FR 1670, 1/14/02)
CA9 Holds INA 236(c) Unconstitutional as Applied to LPRs
The court held that for lawful permanent residents detained prior to removal proceedings, due process requires a bail hearing with reasonable promptness. (Kim v. Ziglar, 1/9/02)
Response to Motion to Dismiss Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus
Sample petitioners’ response to respondent’s motion to dismiss a petition for writ of habeas corpus which raises claims on behalf of a class of persons who have been detained for more than six months and whose removal is not likely in the foreseeable future (2002). (Motion to Dismiss; Rule 12)