Join the dedicated legal team serving in the General and Administrative Law divisions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These teams are part of ICE's Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) and are hiring multiple attorneys for the position of Associate Legal Advisor (ALA) in Washington D.C. Additional information about these exciting teams is available HERE. These positions may offer up to $50,000 in signing and retention bonuses.
Unless otherwise noted, you must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements by 11:59 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time on 09/02/2025. Please note that qualification claims will be subject to verification. Applicants should be able to efficiently produce quality legal analyses of complex and novel issues, exercise sound legal judgment, prioritize competing assignments, and work effectively independently, as part of a team, and across work units. Applicants should be detail-oriented and have a strong interest in supporting and providing stellar client services to program offices, including law enforcement officers, policymakers, attorneys, and agency senior leadership, and must be able to tailor communications to a particular audience. Applicants should be able to take the initiative and work in a reliable, decisive, and professional manner. Applicants should possess the following characteristics and competencies: integrity, sound professional judgment, organizational skills, decisiveness, initiative, stellar client services, the ability to function independently and cooperatively, and superior written and oral advocacy skills. Bar Membership: You must be an active member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Current or Former Political Appointees: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office. The Department of Homeland Security encourages persons with disabilities to apply, to include persons with intellectual, severe physical or psychiatric disabilities, as defined by 5 C.F.R. § 213.3102(u), and/or Disabled Veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more as defined by 5 C.F.R. § 315.707. Veterans, Peace Corps/VISTA volunteers, and persons with disabilities possess a wealth of unique talents, experiences, and competencies that can be invaluable to the DHS mission. If you are a member of one of these groups, you may not have to compete with the public for federal jobs.
OPLA is the largest legal program in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), employing nearly 2,000 attorneys nationwide. In addition to Headquarters in Washington, D.C., there are 24 OPLA Field Locations in more than 60 cities throughout the United States. OPLA provides a full range of legal services to all ICE programs and offices. OPLA's Headquarters General and Administrative Law divisions advance ICE's homeland security and public safety mission by providing legal advice and prudential counsel to ICE personnel on a range of matters, such as employment, ethics, fiscal, contract, and information-disclosure law. These divisions also represent ICE before the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Government Accountability Office and the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals. Specifically, the Commercial & Administrative Law Division (CALD), the Government Information Law Division (GILD), the Ethics Office (EO), and the Labor and Employment Law Division (LELD) do the following: CALD attorneys advise on procurement law, fiscal law, administrative law and suspension and debarment. They represent ICE in litigation in federal courts and before the Government Accountability Office, the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, and various administrative bodies. They also serve as legal counsel to the Office of Acquisition Management, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and the ICE Suspension and Debarment Official. In addition, CALD attorneys respond to a variety of fiscal, appropriations, and contract inquiries from ICE client components. GILD attorneys advise all ICE program offices on matters relating to the disclosure of agency information, both within DHS and to external entities. Specifically, they support agency compliance with legal obligations under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the Privacy Act of 1974, the E-Government Act of 2002, the Federal Records Act of 1950, and the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. GILD adjudicates administrative FOIA appeals and assists U.S. Attorneys' Offices in defending information-related litigation under the FOIA and the Administrative Procedure Act. GILD attorneys also engage with local law enforcement about state sunshine laws and the disclosure of information, coordinate responses to agency requests for information, respond to congressional inquiries, and review ICE information-sharing agreements with external agencies. EO attorneys provide legal advice, guidance, and training on a range of ethics issues, including criminal conflicts of interest, gifts, impartiality, misuse of position, outside employment and activities, and post-government employment. The EO also manages a substantial financial disclosure program; develops and delivers a proactive training program to all employees throughout the country; and oversees OPLA's management inquiry program, which investigates, and addresses misconduct allegations referred by ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility. The EO also operates a robust attorney professional conduct program that counsels OPLA attorneys as well as ICE and DHS personnel and provides training on professional conduct issues. LELD attorneys provide guidance and training to ICE supervisors and managers on personnel management. This includes employee relations issues, such as conduct and performance, and labor relations issues, such as negotiating with bargaining units, responding to grievances, and litigating national-level arbitrations and unfair labor practice complaints. LELD also assists ICE managers with taking adverse actions and provides advice regarding Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaints. LELD also represents ICE before the Merit Systems Protection Board and the EEO Commission and works with the U.S. Department of Justice to defend employment claims in federal courts. Selected attorneys will immediately be given significant responsibilities and will be expected to 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.