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
AILA Submits Amicus Brief on Immigration Judges’ Authority to Administratively Close Removal Proceedings
AILA submitted an amicus brief in Gonzalez-Penaloza v. Barr arguing that the AG’s decision in Matter of Castro-Tum stripping IJs and the BIA of their authority to administratively close removal proceedings is unreasonable and creates unjust, inefficient, and unworkable results.
TRAC Issues Report on the Pandemic and ICE Use of Detainers in FY2020
TRAC reported that the pandemic appears to have caused only a temporary and modest drop in detainer usage by ICE. Average weekday detainer usage, overall trending downward, fell in mid-March below 400 per weekday, but started climbing back up mid-April, and by mid-May had recovered completely.
DHS Releases Fact Sheet on Measures on the Border to Limit the Further Spread of Coronavirus
On October 19, 2020, DHS updated its fact sheet on measures to limit non-essential travel across the U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico borders and to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The measures have been extended until November 21, 2020.
South Florida EOIR Miami Court Rotation (Phase 1)
EOIR Miami Immigration Judge Court Rotation for Phase 1, beginning on October 19 and October 26, 2020.
USCIS 30-Day Extension of Comment Period on Proposed Revisions to Form I-191
USCIS 30-day extension of a comment period previously announced at 85 FR 41061 on proposed revisions to Form I-191, Application for Relief under Former Section 212(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Comments are now due 11/16/20. (85 FR 65858, 10/16/20)
DOJ and DHS Release Report on Incarceration and Immigration Status
DHS and DOJ released the FY2019 Alien Incarceration Report, providing data on the immigration status of known or suspected immigrants incarcerated under the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Marshals Service, and in state prisons and local detention centers throughout the U.S.
CA9 Says Oregon’s Former Marijuana Delivery Statute Is Not an “Illicit Trafficking of a Controlled Substance” Offense
The court held that Oregon’s former marijuana delivery statute, Or. Rev. Stat. §475.860, was not an “illicit trafficking of a controlled substance” offense, and thus found that the petitioner’s conviction did not make him removable as an aggravated felon. (Cortes-Maldonado v. Barr, 10/15/20)
EOIR Releases Statistics on Immigration Judge Hiring for FY2020
EOIR released statistics on total immigration judges (IJs) hired and total IJs on board. In FY2020, EOIR hired 100 IJs and had 520 IJs on board.
CA3 Finds Petitioner’s Conviction Under New Jersey’s Terroristic-Threats Statute Was Not a CIMT
Granting the petition for review, the court held that, under the modified categorical approach, the petitioner’s conviction under New Jersey’s terroristic-threats statute was not a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT). (Larios v. Att’y Gen., 10/14/20)
CA4 Grants Asylum to Salvadoran Petitioner Targeted by Gang Because Her Parents Failed to Comply with Extortive Threats
The court held that the IJ and the BIA had failed to adequately address unrebutted evidence in the record that compelled the conclusion that the petitioner’s membership in her family was at least one central reason for her persecution. (Hernandez-Cartagena v. Barr, 10/14/20)
EOIR to Resume Hearings in Non-Detained Cases at the Imperial and Miami Immigration Courts
EOIR announced that it will resume non-detained individual (merits) hearings and master calendar dockets involving small numbers of respondents at the Imperial and Miami immigration courts on 10/19/20. The option to file by email at these courts will end on 12/18/20.
ICE Notice of Modification of Bond Management Information System of Records
ICE notice of modification of the “Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-004 Bond Management Information System” system of records. Comments are due 11/12/20. (85 FR 64515, 10/13/20)
CA9 Upholds Adverse Credibility Determination as to Petitioner from the DRC Based on Inconsistencies in the Record
Where there were inconsistencies, an omission, and implausibilities in the record, the court held that substantial evidence supported the denial of asylum to the petitioner, a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), on adverse credibility grounds. (Mukulumbutu v. Barr, 10/13/20)
CA11 Says There Is No Duress or De Minimis Exception to the Material Support Bar
The court held that its precedent established that no duress exception exists to the material support bar, and that the statutory text showed that any provision of funds to a terrorist organization categorically qualifies as material support. (Hincapie-Zapata v. Att’y Gen., 10/13/20)
EOIR to Resume Hearings in Non-Detained Cases at the Atlanta Immigration Courts
EOIR announced that it will resume non-detained individual (merits) hearings and master calendar dockets involving small numbers of respondents at the Atlanta W. Peachtree Street and Ted Turner Drive immigration courts on 10/13/20. The option to file by email at these courts will end on 12/12/20.
EOIR to Resume Hearings in Non-Detained Cases at the Seattle Immigration Court
EOIR announced that it will resume non-detained individual (merits) hearings and master calendar dockets involving small numbers of respondents at the Seattle immigration court on October 13, 2020. The option to file by email at this court will end on December 12, 2020.
EOIR Announces 20 New Immigration Judges
EOIR announced the investiture of 20 new immigration judges, including three assistant chief immigration judges. Per the notice, EOIR’s immigration judge corps has increased nearly 70 percent since January 2017. Notice includes the judges’ biographical information and courts of appointment.
CRS Releases Legal Sidebar on Recent Legal Developments Concerning Immigration Detainers
CRS updated its legal sidebar on immigration detainers following the Ninth Circuit’s reversal of the injunction in Gerardo Gonzalez v. ICE. ICE can now continue its detainer policy, but must provide “prompt probable cause determination” of removability to individuals subject to a detainer.
BIA Rules That Cancellation of Removal Despite Criminal Conviction Precludes a Later Finding of Deportability Based on the Same Conviction
The BIA ruled that if a criminal conviction was charged as a ground of removability when cancellation of removal was granted, that conviction cannot serve as the sole factual predicate for a charge of removability in subsequent removal proceedings. Matter of Voss, 28 I&N Dec. 107 (BIA 2020)
AILA and Partners Request EOIR to Extend Comment Period for Proposed Rule on Asylum and Withholding of Removal Procedures
Nearly 90 organizations, including AILA, sent a letter to EOIR and OMB urging the agencies to extend the public comment period on EOIR's proposed rule on asylum and withholding of removal procedures from 30 days to a minimum of 60 days.
CA7 Says BIA Erred in Finding IJ Need Not Warn Petitioner of Possible Eligibility for Asylum and Related Relief
Where the petitioner had told the IJ that he feared persecution at the hands of gangs in Honduras because of his relationship to his mother, the court held that the IJ should have advised him that he might be eligible for asylum or withholding of removal. (Jimenez-Aguilar v. Barr, 10/6/20)
Department of the Treasury Notice on Immigration Bond Interest Rates
Department of the Treasury notice that for the period beginning 10/1/20 and ending 12/31/20, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Immigration Bond interest rate is 0.11 per centum per annum. (85 FR 63162, 10/6/20)
ERO Miami Contact List (October 2020)
Contact information for ERO Miami updated as of October 2020.
Board of Immigration Appeals Practice Manual (10/5/20)
The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) provided an updated Practice Manual (last revised on October 5, 2020). This manual describes procedures, requirements, and recommendations for practice before the BIA.
H. Res. 1153: Condemning Unwanted, Unnecessary Medical Procedures on Individuals Without Their Full, Informed Consent
The House of Representatives passed House Res. 1153 by a vote of 232–156, with 7 Republicans joining 225 Democrats. The bipartisan resolution condemns unwanted, unnecessary medical procedures on individuals in immigration detention without their full, informed consent. AILA endorsed the resolution.