In the movie In The Heights, Abuela Claudia sings about dancing with Mayor La Guardia and people acting excited when her family first immigrated. Were Cuban, or Latino, immigrants lured into the US in some way? Or did she mean something else?

by BeraldGevins

To expand on this, Claudia was a Cuban immigrant who moved to New York in 1943. She sings about dancing with Mayor La Guardia and that “all of society welcomed mami and me”. What did she mean by this in a historical sense? Were latino immigrants lured into New York in some way for labor? She goes on to sing about the pressure to learn English and find a job, and implies that they ended up treating her worse than they initially did. What does she mean by this? Here is the song, for reference. https://youtu.be/1eiBlLlmxos

findingthescore

From a dramaturgical standpoint: in the vocal score, this line is immediately followed with a spoken "Ha!" (m. 115) This may imply that the hope of being welcomed by the city and Mayor La Guardia was merely a wish or a story that was being told to her by her mother. It is quickly dashed by people coming at them with the line the ensemble immediately sings at Claudia: "You better clean this mess! You better learn inglés!"

In the original Broadway production, this transition from fantasy to reality was punctuated by a sharp lighting change and choreographic change from a 1940's period smoothness to a harsher, impositional movement style. The same actor from the film, Olga Merediz, played the role for the entire (nearly three-year!) Broadway run, and was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance. (Here is an official video of her performance at the Richard Rodgers Theatre if you'd like to see the moment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo911wdE3rk )

Historically, Fiorello La Guardia was well known for reaching out to immigrant populations as mayor. He was a first-generation son of Jewish and Catholic immigrants from Italy and Eastern Europe. La Guardia worked as an interpreter for the Ellis Island Immigration Station before the first World War, and his facility with both immigrant populations and language was also dramatized/musicalized in the Pulitzer-winning 1959 musical Fiorello! by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick (yes, the exclamation mark is in the title). He was well-known nationally (and probably internationally) as a force for progress and recovery after the Depression, often being endorsed across party lines. It would stand to reason that if New York City post-Depression was seen by immigrants as a goal of prosperity and upward mobility that Mayor La Guardia would be a key part of that image of hope.

Interestingly for the year 1943 (although I don't know why Cuban immigrants arriving in New York would know this immediately), Mayor La Guardia opened what is now known as City Center on 55th Street in December of that year. He even appeared as a guest conductor for the New York Philharmonic that evening, leading "The Star Spangled Banner".