Summary Launch a prestigious career as an Attorney with ICE's Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA)! Join a legal team dedicated to defending the nation's immigration laws and safeguarding the United States with expertise and integrity. This role may offer up to $50,000 in signing and retention bonuses. If you're a passionate legal professional and ready to serve your country, join OPLA and become a vital part of homeland security! Responsibilities OPLA is the largest legal program in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), employing over 1,700 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. Pursuant to statute, OPLA serves as the exclusive representative of DHS in removal proceedings before the Executive Office for Immigration Review litigating cases involving criminal aliens, terrorists, human rights violators, and other priority aliens. OPLA also provides a full range of legal services to all ICE programs and offices. OPLA attorneys provide legal advice and prudential counsel to ICE personnel on their law enforcement authorities, legal liability under the Federal Tort Claims Act and Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Fed. Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971), the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act, ethics, and a range of administrative law issues, such as contract, fiscal and employment law. OPLA attorneys represent the agency before the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Contract Board of Appeals. OPLA attorneys support the Department of Justice in the prosecution of ICE cases and in the defense of civil cases against ICE. The selected attorney will immediately be given significant responsibilities and will be expected to craft legally supportable policies to address the needs of agency operational components. The attorney will be expected to routinely provide timely legal opinions to ICE officers and agents, management, and leadership within OPLA, ICE, and DHS's Office of the General Counsel Headquarters. The selected attorney will be required to assess litigation risk and provide litigation support to the Department of Justice. As a General Attorney, you will perform the following duties at the full performance level: Represent the United States Government in removal proceedings before immigration judges, frequently involving applicants for asylum or for other forms of relief under immigration laws; Provide expert legal counsel in the interpretation of highly complex immigration and customs laws including comprehensive and in-depth knowledge of statutory, regulatory and case authorities; Prepare cases for litigation by conducting legal research; prepare pleadings, motions, briefs, stipulations, affidavits, and other legal documents; Prepare witnesses for litigation; conduct direct examination and cross examination; present oral arguments advancing ICE's legal position; negotiate the disposition of cases with opposing counsel; and advise the Chief Counsel and/or Deputy Chief Counsel on cases potentially warranting deferred action or other exercise of prosecutorial discretion; Construct litigation reports for United States Attorney's Offices on civil matters pending in the federal courts involving ICE, and serve as liaison between Department of Justice's Office of Immigration Litigation and the local Enforcement and Removal Field Office on immigration matters pending in the Circuit Courts of Appeals; Provide legal advice and support to the other ICE components and litigation support to United States Attorney's Offices in immigration and/or customs matters. The position also involves appellate advocacy before the Board of Immigration Appeals, including the preparation of briefs and other pleadings. OPLA will ensure that applicants with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations when appropriate. If reasonable accommodation is required for any part of the application process, please contact the OPLA representative listed on this announcement. Organizational Location: This announcement will be used to fill multiple vacancies at Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) Field Locations. The salary range listed is the General Schedule (GS) base rate. Click here to access the GS locality pay tables. Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications Unless otherwise noted, you must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements by 11:59 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time on 12/26/2025. Please note that qualification claims will be subject to verification. Applicants should possess an ability to efficiently produce quality legal analyses of complex and novel issues, exercise sound legal judgment, be detail oriented, prioritize competing assignments, and work effectively independently, as part of a team, and across work units. Applicants should have a strong interest in supporting and providing stellar client services to diverse 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 demonstrate an ability to take 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. Education Applicants must be a graduate of an accredited law school with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) or LLM degree. Please see Required Documents for more information. A student loan repayment incentive may be available, in which case a service agreement will be required. Additional Information Promotion Potential: This position has promotion potential to the GS-14. When promotion potential is shown, the agency is not making a commitment and is not obligated to provide future promotions to you if you are selected. Future promotions will be dependent on your ability to perform the duties at a higher level, the continuing need for an employee assigned to the higher level, and administrative approval. General Schedule locality pay tables may be found under Salaries & Wages. E-Verify: DHS uses E-Verify, an Internet-based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities. Direct Deposit: All federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing. Veterans' Preference: There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the Excepted Service; however, OPLA considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. Financial Disclosure: If you are hired, you may be required to complete a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 450) within 30 days after appointment. Suitability: If you receive a conditional offer of employment, you must complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application, prior to entry on duty. False statements on any part of the application may result in withdrawal of offer of employment, dismissal after beginning work, fine, or imprisonment. Background Investigation: DHS requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet these standards, all selected applicants must undergo a background investigation and successfully obtain and maintain a security clearance at the Secret level as a condition of placement into this position. This may include a credit check, a review of financial issues such as delinquency in the payment of debts, child support and tax obligations, and a review of certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs. Drug Test: Pursuant to Executive Order 12564 and the DHS Drug-Free Workplace Plan, ICE is committed to maintaining a drug-free workplace. All applicants tentatively selected for employment are subject to pre-employment drug testing and a final offer of employment is contingent upon a negative result. One or more positions may be filled using this vacancy announcement.
