General Attorney(Enforcement and Removal)

Join the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) as Counsel for the Enforcement and Removal Operations Law Division (EROLD) to leverage your legal experience to serve your country. Selected attorneys will collaborate within a dynamic team of enforcement attorneys to provide legal advice and guidance to Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers and other stakeholders on high-profile agency matters in a fast-paced environment.

OPLA is the largest legal program in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), employing over 3,000 attorneys nationwide to provide a full range of legal services to all ICE programs and offices. OPLA's Enforcement, General Law, and Litigation (EG&L) divisions, through close client engagement, advance ICE's homeland security and public safety mission by providing expert legal advice and guidance to ICE personnel enforcing our nation's immigration, customs, and criminal laws and policies. Counsel for EG&L also defend the operational authorities and decisions of ICE officers and agents in the federal courts, and support the advocacy of ICE attorneys before the immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), with special emphasis on cases involving criminal aliens, human rights violators, and aliens who threaten our national security. Within EG&L, EROLD attorneys serve as agency counsel to ERO at the headquarters level, providing guidance and timely legal counsel on a variety of law enforcement authorities and functions, including civil immigration arrests; detention and release authorities; conditions of confinement; detainers; alternative processing pathways (e.g., expedited removal); fugitive operations; juvenile and family unit issues; repatriation initiatives; and the 287(g) program. EROLD attorneys develop legal opinions and review and draft policy directives, legislation, regulations, and other materials for DHS, ICE, and OPLA leadership on the legal and policy aspects of ERO immigration enforcement functions. EROLD attorneys frequently engage with ICE leadership, the DHS Office of the General Counsel Headquarters attorneys, other DHS component legal offices, and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to coordinate the successful resolution of federal litigation and immigration enforcement matters impacting ERO equities. EROLD also houses ICE's regulatory program consisting of regulatory attorneys, analysts, and economists. Selected attorneys will be given significant responsibilities and will be expected to research and craft persuasive, legally supportable positions to address the needs of agency operational components. Selected attorneys will be expected to routinely provide timely legal opinions to ICE officers and agents, division management, and leadership within OPLA, ICE, and the DHS Office of the General Counsel Headquarters. Selected attorneys will also provide litigation support to DOJ. This is an in-person position located in Washington, DC.