Superstar creative Lin-Manuel Miranda teams up with dope rappers from various backgrounds to deliver a much-needed message to President Donald Trump in the video for The Hamilton Mixtape version of “Immigrants (We Get The Job Done).”
In wake of the controversial travel ban that will restrict immigrants from several Muslim-majority nations, Miranda's video shows the power of unity in the face of bigotry and discrimination. “We’ve got the House and the Senate debating this issue,” the video starts, “and it’s really astonishing that in a country founded by immigrants, ‘immigrant’ has somehow become a bad word.”
Rappers K’naan, Snow Tha Product, Residente, and, last but not least, actor Riz Ahmed, aka Riz MC all make an appearance. And their unique stories are indicative of what the video attempts to say. K’naan is Somali Canadian. Snow tha Product is Mexican American. Riz Ahmed is a British Pakistani rapper/actor who refused to play terrorists and other damaging characters.
The video features various immigrants who have gone through proverbial hell to become valued members of American society. Doctors, construction workers, butchers and others are featured weaving an American flag explicitly stating that the nation people love so dearly were built by immigrants.
With the dark reddish cinematography one may say the video puts off a dire message but really it is about the toughness and resolve of immigrants through the fire. “Look how far I’ve come, look how far I’ve come," the hook plays. "Immigrants, we get the job done.”