On September 12, 2012, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Public Advocate Andrew Lorenzen-Strait announced "[t]oday I want to make you aware of a policy change at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that will enhance detainees’ access to fair and impartial immigration court proceedings by giving their advocates an important, additional tool to use during those proceedings. At the request of the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), ICE will now allow private attorneys or accredited representatives appearing before an immigration judge on behalf of detainees to bring a laptop into EOIR courtrooms located within detention facilities.
Private attorneys or accredited representatives will be required to complete a request form each time they intend to bring a laptop into an EOIR courtroom in a detention facility. Please note, this process is for laptop computers along with an air card only and does not include iPADs, iPODs, smart phones, BlackBerrys or other electronic devices. In addition, this process does not permit attorneys to take laptops in attorney-client visitation rooms. Further rules outlining where, when, and how laptops can be used while in detention facilities are clearly stated in the request form.
ICE is currently implementing this policy in each of its 24 Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) field offices. To get the laptop request form, you should contact the field office in which your EOIR proceeding and detention facility are located. If you do not have a field office point of contact, you may identify and email the appropriate Public Advocate Field Liaison by using this interactive map on the ICE.gov website and clicking on the area where your pending proceeding will take place. Phone numbers for each field office are also available on the Contact ICE page.
Please help us spread the word about this important change in ICE policy by forwarding this message to your colleagues and community partners.
Sincerely,
Andrew Lorenzen-Strait
Public Advocate
Enforcement and Removal Operations
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Andrew.R.Lorenzen-Strait@ice.dhs.gov
(202) 431-4761 Cell
