General Attorney (Regulatory Affairs)

Join the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA), as Counsel for the Regulatory Affairs Unit (RAU), to leverage your experience to serve your country. The individual selected will collaborate within a dynamic team of economists, regulatory analysts, attorneys, 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 in EG&L also defend the operational authorities and decisions of ICE officers and agents in federal courts and support the advocacy of ICE attorneys before 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, the RAU consists of regulatory attorneys, analysts, and economists. RAU attorneys serve as regulatory counsel and play a significant role in the development and promulgation of regulatory actions relating to a variety of law enforcement authorities and functions, including immigration arrest, detention, and processing as well as oversight of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program. RAU personnel review and draft regulations, policy directives, and other materials for DHS, ICE, and OPLA Senior Leadership. The RAU frequently engages with policymakers, ICE operational clients, the DHS Office of the General Counsel Headquarters, and DHS components to develop rules that further DHS's and ICE's enforcement objectives and strategic initiatives. The selected attorney(s) will be expected to: Draft and interpret regulations, as well as advise clients on statutory authority for rulemaking and application of the Administrative Procedure Act, the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Regulatory Flexibility Act, and related authorities. Assist with crafting legally supportable policies to address the needs of agency operational components. Routinely provide timely legal opinions to ICE officers and agents, EG&L managers, and leadership within OPLA, ICE, and the DHS Office of the General Counsel Headquarters; and Provide litigation support to the Department of Justice and review documents for responsiveness and privilege as part of discovery in civil litigation as necessary.