DHS ICE OPLA Attorney Forum

[Anonymous User]

I just passed the background check to be an assistant chief counsel for DHS, ICE, OPLA. I was curious what type of cases I will be working on, and everyday life of an OPLA attorney.

[Anonymous User]

You'll be in Immigration Court advocating for the deportation of all sorts of people. Generally you're just kind of a cog in an endless machine of resetting cases for the next "Mass Cal" or arguing about whether stealing candy bars is a crime of moral turpitude.

[Anonymous User]

I interviewed w/ ICE too in January, do you mind sharing what office you'll be working at?

[Anonymous User]

I interviewed w/ ICE too in January, do you mind sharing what office you'll be working at?

I won't say exactly what office, but I'm with one of the west-side offices. What about you?

[Anonymous User]

No problem but I assume by “west side” you mean west coast haha, I interviewed in the Midwest. Congrats on getting the job!

[Anonymous User]

Just curious what inspires someone to want to join DHS ICE etc.? Do you think you can make a difference from the inside vis prosecutorial discretion or are you just a bad person?

[ljc1863]

Just curious what inspires someone to want to join DHS ICE etc.? Do you think you can make a difference from the inside vis prosecutorial discretion or are you just a bad person?

I’m interested in ICE because I’m interested in national security law and helping to keep our country safe. If that makes anyone would like to work for the government a bad person in your opinion, I’m sorry to hear it.

[Anonymous User]

Yes, the job is largely conducting deportation proceedings that can range from murderers to DUIs, writing response motions, immigration appeals, etc.

Other parts of the job include national security (extraditing terrorists), human rights abuses (extraditing war criminals), homeland security investigations (I heard it's largely targeting human trafficking), writing memos for Congress (not sure how true this is), employment law, cyber security law, collateral opportunities to the USAO, etc etc etc. Your duties can vary.

[whats an updog]

Do people who have other options but are actively wanting to be ICE attorneys in the current administration believe in what the agency is doing and, if so, do you realize you're a bad person? I mean if you want to be an ICE attorney you already must be a pretty shitty human, but it's possible you could be lying to yourself about changing something from the inside

[Hoosier2]

Don’t agree politically = bad person? Sounds like a winning argument.

[minnbills]

Don’t agree politically = bad person? Sounds like a winning argument.

Yeah because breaking up families and shitting on the poor is sooo christian

[encore1101]

Don’t agree politically = bad person? Sounds like a winning argument.

Yeah because breaking up families and shitting on the poor is sooo christian

Some of the worst people I know are christians. Some of the best people I know are atheists. Not really sure why you introduced that here, unless it was sarcasm I missed or something.

[encore1101]

Just curious what inspires someone to want to join DHS ICE etc.? Do you think you can make a difference from the inside vis prosecutorial discretion or are you just a bad person?

Great use of anon, btw.

[objctnyrhnr]

Don’t agree politically = bad person? Sounds like a winning argument.

Yeah because breaking up families and shitting on the poor is sooo christian

Is every defense attorney who defends a rapist a scumbag also, in your view? Intuitively, a rapist strikes me as blatantly worse than an ice agent (but maybe that’s just me). Using your logic, wouldn’t that make any attorney who reps a company that does something that doesn’t line up with your liberal view of social Justice a scumbag also? Does everybody who doesn’t do some aclu-type PI deserve to burn?

I’m not saying I agree or disagree with you about whether what ice does is good or bad...I’m just trying to get to the heart of your rationale for calling OP a scumbag.

[lawhopeful100]

Take this debate to the lounge. This has nothing to do with what OP asked.

[abogadesq]

I have a friend of a friend who does this in California. Basically, your arguing for the deportation of individuals in immigration court. She sounded pretty miserable, but it pays up to GS-15 I believe, and most nonsupervisory attorney jobs max out at GS-14.

[objctnyrhnr]

I have a friend of a friend who does this in California. Basically, your arguing for the deportation of individuals in immigration court. She sounded pretty miserable, but it pays up to GS-15 I believe, and most nonsupervisory attorney jobs max out at GS-14.

Any idea how much discretion she has to be like nah I’m gonna assent to this one and let this guy stay, similar to state prosecutors in many jurisdictions?

[Anonymous User]

I have a friend of a friend who does this in California. Basically, your arguing for the deportation of individuals in immigration court. She sounded pretty miserable, but it pays up to GS-15 I believe, and most nonsupervisory attorney jobs max out at GS-14.

Any idea how much discretion she has to be like nah I’m gonna assent to this one and let this guy stay, similar to state prosecutors in many jurisdictions?

Maybe I can answer this. I was a former DHS attorney and state prosecutor. A DHS attorney's discretion was highly dependent on each local office. For our office (a progressive city), we had a lot of discretion; more than the state prosecutor's office. We would only remove someone from the United States when they were a real danger to the public (gang members, war criminals, etc.) We did everything in our power to keep families together, especially if they were not a danger to society, and really the culture of our office was to prevent such things from happening.

As another poster mentioned, while immigration work is a bulk of your work, you are working on various other things too: HSI, USAO, National Security, and Human Rights Abuses.

[objctnyrhnr]

I have a friend of a friend who does this in California. Basically, your arguing for the deportation of individuals in immigration court. She sounded pretty miserable, but it pays up to GS-15 I believe, and most nonsupervisory attorney jobs max out at GS-14.

Any idea how much discretion she has to be like nah I’m gonna assent to this one and let this guy stay, similar to state prosecutors in many jurisdictions?

Maybe I can answer this. I was a former DHS attorney and state prosecutor. A DHS attorney's discretion was highly dependent on each local office. For our office (a progressive city), we had a lot of discretion; more than the state prosecutor's office. We would only remove someone from the United States when they were a real danger to the public (gang members, war criminals, etc.) We did everything in our power to keep families together, especially if they were not a danger to society, and really the culture of our office was to prevent such things from happening.

As another poster mentioned, while immigration work is a bulk of your work, you are working on various other things too: HSI, USAO, National Security, and Human Rights Abuses.

Anon, what do you do now? What are some common exit options for this position?

[Anonymous User]

I have a friend of a friend who does this in California. Basically, your arguing for the deportation of individuals in immigration court. She sounded pretty miserable, but it pays up to GS-15 I believe, and most nonsupervisory attorney jobs max out at GS-14.

Any idea how much discretion she has to be like nah I’m gonna assent to this one and let this guy stay, similar to state prosecutors in many jurisdictions?

Maybe I can answer this. I was a former DHS attorney and state prosecutor. A DHS attorney's discretion was highly dependent on each local office. For our office (a progressive city), we had a lot of discretion; more than the state prosecutor's office. We would only remove someone from the United States when they were a real danger to the public (gang members, war criminals, etc.) We did everything in our power to keep families together, especially if they were not a danger to society, and really the culture of our office was to prevent such things from happening.

As another poster mentioned, while immigration work is a bulk of your work, you are working on various other things too: HSI, USAO, National Security, and Human Rights Abuses.

Anon, what do you do now? What are some common exit options for this position?

I am a prosecutor again, but for the city. But that was because I never wanted to be a DHS attorney, and so I aimed to apply for different prosecutorial positions.

Most people are lifers. Most came from other fed agencies, former immigration defense attorneys, and some came from DA offices/biglaw. Some people go on to become DAs, and others get hired with the agencies they detail at (AUSA, and there was an agency dealing with human rights in DC, and many others.) A lot of people go on to become immigration defense attorneys and immigration judges.

If you're just starting out as a DHS attorney, I would try to work with the national security unit, human rights unit, homeland security investigations, or the USAO.

[Anonymous User]

Question for OP and those that have worked as an ACC- what was it like maintaining the security clearance? How constantly are they monitoring you? For example, if you get a speeding ticket or minor criminal violation will this be something that is brought to their attention immediately? For the random drug testing, is this like a professional sports league where they pop in at random dates/times to drug test you? Or is this more like a once every 10 years kind of review thing.

[Anonymous User]

bump.

[Anonymous User]

2bump

[Anonymous User]

Anyone here heard about DHS Honors Program offers being made to finalists?

[forthecause]

I have a friend of a friend who does this in California. Basically, your arguing for the deportation of individuals in immigration court. She sounded pretty miserable, but it pays up to GS-15 I believe, and most nonsupervisory attorney jobs max out at GS-14.

Any idea how much discretion she has to be like nah I’m gonna assent to this one and let this guy stay, similar to state prosecutors in many jurisdictions?

Maybe I can answer this. I was a former DHS attorney and state prosecutor. A DHS attorney's discretion was highly dependent on each local office. For our office (a progressive city), we had a lot of discretion; more than the state prosecutor's office. We would only remove someone from the United States when they were a real danger to the public (gang members, war criminals, etc.) We did everything in our power to keep families together, especially if they were not a danger to society, and really the culture of our office was to prevent such things from happening.

As another poster mentioned, while immigration work is a bulk of your work, you are working on various other things too: HSI, USAO, National Security, and Human Rights Abuses.

Anon, what do you do now? What are some common exit options for this position?

I am a prosecutor again, but for the city. But that was because I never wanted to be a DHS attorney, and so I aimed to apply for different prosecutorial positions.

Most people are lifers. Most came from other fed agencies, former immigration defense attorneys, and some came from DA offices/biglaw. Some people go on to become DAs, and others get hired with the agencies they detail at (AUSA, and there was an agency dealing with human rights in DC, and many others.) A lot of people go on to become immigration defense attorneys and immigration judges.

If you're just starting out as a DHS attorney, I would try to work with the national security unit, human rights unit, homeland security investigations, or the USAO.

How exactly do you go about getting to focus on HSI / natl sec / trafficking while at DHS? Are those even OPLA? Do you join OPLA and then just try to volunteer for certain cases? Or what? Thanks