I have not recovered from the shock when I learned yesterday of the death of Michael Hethmon of the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) on Saturday in a collision with another vehicle; the driver of the other vehicle has been charged with manslaughter. I have not been able to concentrate to write but I need to say something.
Like me, Mike went to law school late in life. In fact, I first met Mike while I was in law school. After law school, Mike brought me in to work with IRLI. Mike championed the efforts to protect American workers. Our first effort, the challenge to the Optional Practical Training (OPT) guestworker program is still going on after twelve and a half years. It took a lot of commitment on Mike's part to bring this about.
Mike was particularly gifted at using words. In reviewing briefs, he was able to transform my terse engineering writing into beautiful prose. He knew the immigration statutes and regulations. My email is full of responses from Mike to questions on immigration.
Mike was scheduled to retire at the end of year.