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ICE Suspends Use of May 2021 Prosecutorial Discretion Memo

August 23, 2021 (1 min read)

On Aug. 20, 2021, ICE posted this revised notice: "Due to an August 19, 2021 preliminary injunction issued in Texas v. United States, 6:21-cv-16 (S.D. Tex. Aug. 19, 2021), OPLA has suspended reliance on the May 27, 2021 memorandum from the Principal Legal Advisor, Interim Guidance to OPLA Attorneys Regarding Civil Immigration Enforcement and Removal Policies and Priorities. Questions from noncitizens and their legal representatives about OPLA’s exercise of prosecutorial discretion in individual cases should be referred to your local OPLA office."

And Hamed Aleaziz in BuzzFeed News reports that in an internal email, ICE Principal Legal Advisor John Trasviña told ICE attorneys, "“As a practical matter, you may continue to exercise traditional discretion in individual cases consistent with your best judgement and as the law allows, but please cease any affirmative review or consideration of requests for prosecutorial discretion under the parameters of my [May 27, 2021] memorandum..."