On June 17, 2011, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton issued a memorandum directing ICE staff to consider declining to put people in removal proceedings, terminating proceedings, or delaying removals in cases where people have longstanding ties to the community, U.S.-citizen family members, or other characteristics.

https://www.ice.gov/doclib/secure-communities/pdf/prosecutorial-discretion-memo.pdf

“Prosecutorial discretion” is the authority of an agency or officer to

Requesting Prosecutorial Discretion from ICE Office of Chief Counsel (OCC)
On January 20, 2015, ICE indicated that all requests for prosecutorial discretion (PD) under the November 20, 2014 memorandum on enforcement priorities should first be addressed with the ICE Office of Chief Counsel which has jurisdiction over the removal proceedings. (DHS Memo with Updated Policies on the Apprehension, Detention, and Removal of Undocumented Immigrants, (November 20, 2014))

Requesting for Prosecutorial Discretion from ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO)

On or around March 27, 2015, ICE posted information to its website on how to request prosecutorial discretion (PD) from ICE ERO. Attorneys should first request PD from the ICE ERO field office responsible for handling the client’s case. A list of ERO offices and their contact information is available on the ICE website at www.ice.gov/contact/ero. Please note that, given the current court injunction

What is prosecutorial discretion?

Prosecutorial discretion is the authority exercised by every law enforcement agency to set enforcement priorities and decide to what extent to pursue a particular case based on those priorities. Most recently, on November 20, 2014, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a memorandum on enforcement priorities and prosecutorial discretion, “Policies for the Apprehension, Detention, and Removal of Undocumented Immigrants” (Priorities Memo). This memo