🇺🇸 IN MEMORIAM: HON. ROMANO L. “RON” MAZZOLI (1932 – 2022) — Co-Architect Of Bi-Partisan 1986 Immigration Reform Act

 

I personally knew Congressman Mazzoli (D-KY), and worked with him and his staff on the Immigration Reform & Control Act of 1986 (“IRCA”), as I did with Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY) and his staff on the Senate side. At that time I was the Deputy General Counsel and later Acting General Counsel of the “Legacy INS.”

Shortly before I left INS for private practice, in 1987, Congressman Mazzoli invited me to his hometown of Louisville to speak on immigration reform. I was presented with a ceramic “Big Balloon,” representing the City of Louisville, to memorialize that occasion.

We kept up for a time after I went into private practice. He was friendly with Harris Miller who worked with me at Fragomen during my stint as DC Managing Partner. Harris, who recently, sadly, died at 71, had worked for Ron and the Democrats on the House Judiciary staff. I remember Harris, his wife Deborah, Ron, his wife Helen, my wife Cathy, and me having dinner at the Occidental Restaurant in DC shortly after he left Congress and just before I left Fragomen to become the BIA Chair in 1995. Ron supported my application. 

At that time, Ron was putting together plans to teach at his alma mater U. of Louisville Law. I believe Harris and I might have offered him some “syllabus pointers,” although, in actuality, he hardly needed any help from us given his decades of experience in Congress. 

Eventually, we lost touch. But I still have fond memories of Ron, Harris, and a time when the immigration debate, although always spirited and contentious, was more civilized and empirically based.

Here’s a lengthy obit on Ron from The NY Times, forwarded by my friend Nolan Rappaport.

Romano Mazzoli, Who Oversaw Major Immigration Reform, Dies at 89 – The New York Times

And, while I’m at it, here’s a link to the obit for Harris Miller:

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/washingtonpost/name/harris-miller-obituary?id=36545564

Ron was a gentleman and a dedicated public servant who did everything he could to make the system work for the common good — part of the “lost art of governing effectively.” A life well lived. Rest In Peace, Ron.

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

11-06-22