Q&A With Board Member Scott FitzGerald

Scott FitzGerald spent his career practicing corporate immigration and nationality law, recently retiring as the Managing Partner of the Boston office of Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Lowey LLP. Scott is a current Board Member of the American Immigration Council and the Fordham Law School Alumni Association. He is also an Honorary Member of the Dean’s Advisory Board of the Johns Hopkins School of Arts and Sciences and was a Founding Member of both the Council for Emerging National Security Affairs and the Massachusetts Business Immigration Coalition. Scott is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University and Fordham University School of Law. 

We spoke with Scott to learn more about his path to the International Institute of New England, his career-long commitment to the immigrant community, and how he’s helping IINE prepare for its next chapter. 

Can you share a bit about yourself?

I began my career at Fragomen as a law clerk in 1991 and worked there until last year, when I retired after 32 years at the firm. During that period, I “wore many hats.” I worked in the NY office as an associate, ran the firm’s DC office, opened an office in Northern Virginia, and helped to set up the firm’s Global immigration practice. I spent my last 17 years with the firm running Fragomen’s office here in Boston. 

I live in Lexington with my wonderful wife Janice, who is a professional songwriter, and our incredible daughter, Ana, who is a freshman at Merrimack College, where she is studying nursing.

What drew you to become involved with IINE?  

My brother Kevin, who is a Jesuit priest, introduced me to IINE’s President and CEO Jeff Thielman many years ago. From the start, I was interested in the opportunity to align my professional expertise in immigration law with the “boots-on-the-ground” work of IINE. During the first Trump Administration, I provided Jeff with some strategic input around the immigration legal services that IINE was offering during that very challenging time. I eventually joined IINE’s Leadership Council, on which I served until earlier this year, when I joined the Board of Directors.  

As an immigration attorney, I helped companies fulfill the immigration requirements necessary to employ foreign nationals in high skill positions. In many ways, the work that IINE does to help individuals who have escaped persecution and danger in their home countries to secure employment and the ability to provide for their families is similar. We’re focused on connecting people who are here legally and eager to work with employers that desperately need them.  

To achieve this goal, we help them to obtain work authorization, develop English language proficiency, learn employment skills, secure housing, and access transportation. Delivering these services is extremely challenging for IINE’s amazing staff and volunteers, as housing in the Boston area is expensive, facilitating transportation to/from work is complicated, and the demand for ESOL classes greatly outpaces the number of available instructors. However, each day IINE proves that these challenges are not insurmountable, and the benefits to IINE’s clients are truly life-changing. 

What do you consider a board member’s most important responsibilities?

It differs depending on the type of organization and board. For many nonprofits, a primary expectation is to contribute financially, either personally, through fundraising, or both. At IINE, there are also abundant opportunities to volunteer directly in the delivery of services. Also, for me personally, given how my professional experience aligns directly with some of the services delivered, I am also able to share my perspective and advice, which I find very rewarding.  

That being said, in many ways this work is much more challenging, and I have been learning a lot from IINE’s staff, who are incredibly talented and dedicated people. My goal, as I continue to learn, is to help IINE deliver its services to as many people as possible. Thinking about ways in which to tweak programs and processes to make them more efficient, which in turn will allow us to deliver more services to more clients, is one way in which I hope to contribute.  

What motivates you when it comes to IINE’s future? 

We are at a critical inflection point, as immigration has become one of the most controversial political issues of our time. In electing President Trump, the nation has stated, essentially, that they want less immigration and less immigrants. What will that look like? Most likely, refugee admission numbers will be substantially reduced moving forward. Will Temporary Protected Status and Humanitarian Parole for citizens of countries like Haiti not be renewed, or even be cancelled? Who will be targeted under the new Administration’s “mass deportation” efforts? What can be done to push back against some of these measures, and what does all of this mean for the people we serve?  

At this point we don’t know the answers to these questions. One thing we do know is that our mission won’t change. We will continue to serve our clients, and to push back against the anti-immigrant vitriol. There remains a major disconnect between the fact that the U.S. needs immigrants to fill jobs and support our communities, and the widespread belief that immigration is bad for our country. In response, IINE will dig in and continue to champion and provide needed support to these invaluable newcomers to our communities. It’s what we did eight years ago, have done throughout IINE’s 100+-year history, and will continue to do during these very challenging times. I feel lucky to be part of such important work.  

IINE’s Board of Directors includes corporate and community leaders from across New England. View our members and leadership team here.