The incumbent serves as Regional Counsel for the Northeast Region within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, providing leadership, direction, management, and counsel to staff on ICE legal programs and initiatives crucial to the operation of the region.
The Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) protects the homeland by diligently litigating cases while adhering to the highest standards of professional conduct, providing timely and accurate legal advice, and optimizing resources to advance the missions of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE. OPLA is part of the Office of the General Counsel within DHS.
The General Counsel, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, serves as DHS's chief legal officer and principal legal advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security. As such, the General Counsel is responsible for all of DHS's legal determinations and for overseeing all of its attorneys.
OPLA serves as the principal legal representative for DHS/ICE in various forums, including representing DHS before the Department of Justice (DOJ) Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) under 6 U.S.C. § 252(c). OPLA provides legal advice to ICE officers and agents in Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and offers litigation support to the U.S.
Attorney's Offices and the DOJ Office of Immigration Litigation (OIL) on federal court matters related to ICE operations. OPLA handles complex, high-profile immigration and customs enforcement issues that require creative legal solutions to balance national security and individual liberties.
Additionally, OPLA represents DHS in Merit Systems Protection Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Federal Labor Relations Authority hearings; provides ethics counsel; and manages commercial and administrative law matters. Headquartered in Washington, DC, OPLA has nine regions nationwide, each led by a Regional Counsel, and maintains 143 office locations.
The incumbent of this position oversees OPLA's Northeast Region and must be stationed at an OPLA office within that region. Specific duties and responsibilities include: Serving as a third-line supervisor for a staff of more than 400 attorneys and support personnel, and as one of nine senior advisors to the Associate Principal Legal Advisor for Legal Operations and the Deputy Principal Legal Advisor for Legal Operations.
Providing leadership, overall management, and authoritative counsel to staff and clients on legal matters within the designated region, including responsibility for the strategic planning, development, implementation, and administration of agency legal programs and initiatives within the region.
These legal programs include, but are not limited to, immigration trial and appellate practice; constitutional and criminal law and procedure; citizenship and nationality law, including naturalization and denaturalization matters; identity and benefit fraud; smuggling; cybercrimes; labor exploitation; child exploitation; human rights violations; national security; customs law; detention issues, including those related to juvenile noncitizens; victim-witness issues; the Violence Against Women Act; immigrant and nonimmigrant visas; and federal sector employment law.
Providing leadership regarding litigation and case-management strategies, while ensuring that the highest level of legal competency is applied to the development of the agency's case theory, preparation of witnesses for trial, direct and cross-examination of witnesses, presentation of oral arguments advancing the agency's objectives, negotiation with opposing counsel, and identification of cases warranting appeal or the exercise of prosecutorial discretion.
Supervising legal research and the preparation of persuasive memoranda of law advocating agency positions for submission to the EOIR, federal courts, and other tribunals, as well as the preparation of advisory memoranda for United States Attorney's Offices, the DOJ OIL, and ICE officers and agents. Serving as the primary legal advisor to the ICE HSI Special Agent in Charge and ERO Field Office Director in the respective region.
This work requires the ability to conceptualize, develop, and recommend legal options to ICE leadership, and to explain and defend decisions based on those options to professional groups, other federal agencies, and high-ranking officials in the private sector.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for it to be credited toward qualifications. Applicants' resumes and supporting documentation should reflect only education received from schools accredited by such institutions. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html.
If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must submit a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency, which is a U.S. private organization's interpretation that such education has been deemed at least equivalent to conventional U.S. education programs, with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For more information regarding evaluation of foreign education for federal employment, please visit the U.S.
Department of Education webpage.
Justin.Sams-Terrazas@ice.dhs.gov
This position is with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security.
The posted pay range is $151661 – $228000/yr.
This position is eligible for telework.
This position requires a Top Secret security clearance.
Applications close on 2026-10-25.
This position is open under the 'Fed Competitive' hiring path.
Source: USAJOBS.gov — U.S. Federal Government
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