Immigrant Rights Clinic Director: Hamilton Tells a Quintessential American Story
April 14, 2016
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
Elizabeth Keyes, assistant professor in the University of Baltimore School of Law and director of the school's Immigrant Rights Clinic, writes in the ImmigrationProf Blog that the musical Hamilton reminds her of stories from her own immigrant clients—stories of struggle, rejection, and, ultimately, "unabashed glory and pride."
"With Hamilton, we all fall in love with the characters and the performers and the music in equal measure," Keyes writes. "But as an immigration lawyer, I also very powerfully felt my heart soar with gratitude and recognition about something much more specific: Here was the story of an immigrant disdained as a 'Creole bastard,' being told with unabashed glory and pride. The love and respect that the Hamilton cast show in their narrative is akin to the love and respect that I feel for Juan and so many of my clients who so seldom feel the love and respect from anyone.
"From the first song, asking us to spot Hamilton, 'another immigrant comin' up from the bottom' to the show-stopping moment at the Battle of Yorktown where he and Lafayette reconnect and—with deserved pride—nod their heads and say 'immigrants…we get the job done,' Hamilton is an immigrant story, featuring the ambitious young person with little more than a 'top-notch brain,' who makes his way here and thrives in a land full of opportunity for anyone bold enough to seize it."
Read the blog post.
Learn more about Prof. Keyes.