Clarification from the agency

United States Citizens

The office is led by a Director, three Deputy Directors, and one Associate Director, along with a dynamic group of attorney managers, all who collectively reflect an abiding dedication to public service.

Trial Attorney responsibilities primarily involve: coordinating with the agency clients; crafting litigation strategy; conducting necessary pre-trial work; drafting all complaints, motions, answers, and briefs; participating in hearings, oral arguments, and court-ordered discussions; engaging in settlement talks to advance the government's interests; making determinations about whether to seek panel, en bane, or Supreme Court/cert. review of adverse decisions and substantially participating in further review briefing and argument; and handling attorney's fees litigation. OIL's Trial Attorneys likewise contribute significantly as expert consultants on immigration-related inquiries from Congress and the Department.

OIL's district court litigation often involves high-profile matters, frequently entails short-fuse/emergency, fast-paced temporary restraining order litigation, and ordinarily requires analyzing substantially complex immigration, administrative, statutory interpretation, and constitutional law issues and principles. In contrast, OIL's appellate court litigation entails responding to motions for stays of removal, filing motions for summary affirmance or dismissal, drafting complex appellate briefs, and appearing for oral arguments throughout the nation. Some examples of the Office's current and anticipated litigation include: defense of challenges to the expansion of streamlined expedited removal procedures implicating border security; increased defense of review petitions in the federal courts of appeals stemming from a substantial backlog of immigration court cases and expansion of interior enforcement efforts and that raise novel, difficult issues about criminal and other removal grounds, asylum and protection law, and the availability of relief under the immigration statute; defense of the Administration's immigration initiatives reflected in recent Executive Orders such as efforts designed to secure the border, in partnership with other Division components; defense of habeas petitions challenging immigration custody and immigration detainers, particularly under the recently-enacted Laken Riley Act; litigation involving the administration of temporary employment authorization, foreign worker and investor programs; investigation and litigation of civil actions to revoke naturalization; and defense of mandamus litigation involving alleged delay of agency action and that has increased dramatically over the last several years.

Given the Administration's prioritization and focus on immigration enforcement (reflected in part by several immigration-related Executive Orders signed by the President since January 20), OIL's workload is expected to increase dramatically across most of these categories. The organization works closely with United States Attorney's Offices on immigration related matters, and OIL provides support and counsel to all federal agencies involved in the admission, regulation, and removal of noncitizens under our immigration and nationality statutes, as well as related areas of border enforcement and national security.

This is not a remote location position. You will be required to work in person five days a week.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a United States Citizen or National.
• You must successfully pass a security/background investigation and a drug screening.
• Selective Service registration is required, see the "Additional Information" section for full details.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance with eligibility for Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) access depending on organizational assignment / duty location.
• Financial Disclosure: If selected, you will be required to disclose financial information in accordance with DOJ and Federal ethics guidelines.
• May require completion of a 2-year trial period. (Please refer to the trial period statement under Qualifications.)
• A recruitment incentive may be authorized for highly qualified applicants with a signed service agreement and candidates must onboard on or before September 6.

Qualifications

To qualify for the position of Trial Attorney - Office of Immigration Litigation, at GS-0905-11/12/13/14/15, you must meet the basic qualification requirements listed below.

Possessing the minimum post law degree legal experience does not guarantee the applicant will be selected at that grade level.

• GS-11 - minimum up to 1 year post-JD legal experience
• GS-12 - minimum 1 or more years post-JD legal experience
• GS-13 - minimum 1.5 or more years post-JD legal experience
• GS-14 - minimum 2.5 years post-JD legal experience
• GS-15 - minimum 4 years post-JD legal experience

Examples of the experience described above include: independently performing legal analysis; composing pleadings, briefs and other court documents involving unique and/or difficult legal issues in civil or criminal litigation; conducting highly complex civil or criminal litigation; and leading paralegals and support staff.

Qualifications must be met by the closing date of the vacancy announcement.

Preferred qualifications: Applicants should also have excellent academic credentials and outstanding advocacy and legal writing skills. Experience arguing motions, handling discovery, developing expert witness testimony, trying cases, and a federal judicial clerkship are highly desirable.

Trial Period Statement As a condition of employment for accepting this position in accordance with section 11.5 of Executive Order 14284, you will be required to serve a 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• Your performance and conduct;
• The needs and interests of the agency;
• Whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• Whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

You MUST meet all qualification requirements by the 07/10/2026 of this announcement.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Applicant resumes will be reviewed regularly and issued to hiring officials on a rolling basis. If you are interested in applying, it is recommended that you do so early. Multiple positions will be filled from this announcement. We will accept applications through July 10, 2026.

Candidate lists will be generated every two weeks and eligible applications received by the cutoff date will be sent to the selecting official. The cutoff dates will be every 2 weeks following May 22. You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications. Your application will be evaluated by a reviewing panel.

Please Note: The Selecting Official may select additional candidates if more positions become available within 120 days after the closing date of the vacancy.

If you would like to preview the application questionnaire, please see: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12946252.

You must submit the following documents:

• Cover Letter
• Resume showing relevant experience (not to exceed 2 pages)
• Writing Sample (not more than 15 pages in length, and written in the past 3 years)
• DD-214 and/or veteran documentation, (if applicable)

Resume - All Applicants: You must submit a resume (a two page or less resume is required) containing the following pieces of information for each job entry listed in your employment history:

• Official position title,
• Employer name and contact information,
• Start and end dates (including month and year),
• Indicate full-time or number of hours worked per week if part-time,
• A list of duties performed and accomplishments.

Next steps