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Office of Congressional Relations (OCR)

The ICE Office of Congressional Relations (OCR) handles outreach to Congress, with a strong focus on promoting greater understanding of ICE operations, policies, programs and initiatives among members of Congress, Congressional committees and their staffs.

All Congressional liaison efforts spearheaded by OCR are conducted in close partnership with the ICE director’s office, executive staff, division directors, field office leadership and the Department of Homeland Security.

OCR is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Recent News

2012-08-01 | Daniel Ragsdale, acting deputy director, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, speaking before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform's Subcommittee on Government Organization, Efficiency, and Financial Management regarding Unresolved Internal Investigations at DHS: Oversight of Investigation Management in the Office of the DHS IG (PDF)
2012-07-24 | Waldemar Rodriguez, Homeland Security Investigations deputy assistant director of the Transnational Crime and Public Safety Division, speaking before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement regarding The Aftermath of Fraud by Immigration Attorneys (PDF)
2012-07-24 | John P. Woods, Homeland Security Investigations assistant director of national security investigations, speaking before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security regarding Strengthening the Integrity of the Student Visa System by Preventing and Detecting Sham Educational Institutions (PDF)
2012-07-18 | John P. Woods, Homeland Security Investigations assistant director of national security investigations, speaking before the House Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Transportation Security regarding General Aviation Security and Foreign Flight Students (PDF)
2012-07-17 | Leigh H. Winchell, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) assistant director for programs, speaking before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations regarding Combating Money Laundering (PDF)

Mission

OCR represents ICE on Capitol Hill through a broad variety of federal Congressional liaison activities. It helps ICE leadership respond and provide information to Congressional decision makers about the agency’s mission and operations.

Leadership

Elliot Williams
Assistant Director of Office of Congressional Relations

Elliot Williams is assistant director of the Office of Congressional Relations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Washington, D.C.

Elliot Williams leads an office that provides information to members of Congress and their staff about ICE operations, national and local programs, policies, and initiatives. In this capacity, his office is also responsible for promoting ICE’s legislative agenda.

Prior to joining ICE, Mr. Williams served as judiciary committee counsel to Senator Charles E. Schumer of N.Y. There, he handled the senator’s legislative and constituent matters related to immigration, crime and narcotics, firearms, intellectual property, antitrust, bankruptcy and Native American affairs.

In 2004, Mr. Williams entered the United States Department of Justice through the attorney general’s Honors Program. There, he served in the department’s Criminal Division as a trial attorney in the Domestic Security Section. In that position, he handled alien smuggling, visa fraud, and violent crime cases, notably a large-scale violent gang prosecution in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. In 2005, he served on detail to the Organized Crime and Narcotics Trafficking Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, handling narcotics and firearms cases.

Mr. Williams is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Columbia Law School.

After law school, he served in clerkships for judges Donald M. Middlebrooks of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida and Charles R. Wilson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Mr. Williams is a member of the New York Bar.