General Attorney (Information & Privacy Law)

Closing Date: 7th July, 2026

Description:

Summary:
Join a dynamic team of information law attorneys providing fast-paced legal advice and guidance to clients at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) Government Information Law Division (GILD) as Counsel and leverage your legal experience to protect the homeland in this ever-evolving area of law.

Duties:
OPLA is the largest legal program in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), employing over 3,000 attorneys nationwide to provide a full range of legal services to all ICE programs and offices. OPLA's Enforcement, General Law, and Litigation (EG&L) divisions, through close client engagement, advance ICE's homeland security and public safety mission by providing expert legal advice and guidance to ICE personnel enforcing our nation's immigration, customs, and criminal law and policies. Counsel in EG&L also defend the operational authorities and decisions of ICE officers and agents in federal courts and support the advocacy of ICE attorneys before immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals, with special emphasis on cases involving criminal aliens, human rights violators, and aliens who threaten our national security. EG&L divisions also advise and provide legal and prudential counsel to an array of operational and policy clients within ICE on contracts, fiscal, and information law issues, as well as ethics and regulatory matters.

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 (PA), 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, PA, and the Administrative Procedure Act. GILD attorneys also engage with local law enforcement about state sunshine laws and disclosure of information, coordinate responses to agency requests for information, respond to congressional inquiries, and review ICE information-sharing agreements with external agencies.

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.

Requirements:
Conditions of Employment:

• You must successfully pass a background investigation and drug screen for federal employment.
• If you are a male born after 12/31/59, you must certify registration with the Selective Service.
• You must have relevant experience (see How You Will Be Evaluated and Qualifications tabs).
• You must meet all requirements by the closing date of the announcement.
• You may be required to serve a two-year trial period, if the requirement has not been met.
• You must be an active member in good standing of the bar of a U.S. state, territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Qualifications:
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 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.

Education:
Applicants must be graduates of an accredited law school with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) or LLM degree. Please see Required Documents for more information.

Additional Information:
Promotion Potential: This position has promotion potential to the GS-15. 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.

Bargaining Unit Status: This is a non-bargaining position.

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 (http://www.uscis.gov/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 (http://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/OF0306.pdf), 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.

A student loan repayment incentive may be available, in which case a service agreement will be required.

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.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Additional Information:
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Benefits: