Stephen K. Fischel, our dear friend, revered colleague and strong AILF supporter, died Saturday, June 28, 2008 after collapsing at the AILA national conference. He was 59.

Fischie, as he liked to be called, began his illustrious career nearly 35 years ago with the U.S. Department of State. A tireless public servant, Fischie dedicated himself to shaping legislative policy at the Visa office, and, with his promotion in 1997 to the Director of the Office of Legislation, Regulations, and Advisory Assistance, to the introduction of important technology into the Visa process, ultimately eliminating backlogs and greatly reducing processing times. He also participated on the President's Bilateral Migration Talks with Mexico in 2001, providing options to address the "regularization" of undocumented Mexicans, crafting a framework for a bilateral Temporary Worker Program, and designing significant reform to the H-2B program.

For this work and others, Fischie received numerous awards, including the Secretary of State's Award upon his retirement and the Hammer Award for creating facilitative visa processing for the Atlanta Olympics. In 2006, AILF was proud to honor him with a Distinguished Public Service Award for his leadership and commitment to

Beyond sharing with us his professional knowledge and ideas, Fischie was a strong leader and good friend to all of AILF - working tirelessly to promote AILF's mission, fundraising for our crucial work, and most importantly, acting as a steadfast friend to our staff and members. Quick with a joke, a wide smile and a good story, Fischie did his best to enliven any and all AILF functions. He will be missed by all of us.