Nov 7, 2024 By Paul Paterra 4 min read

Linda Hamilton’s goal was to be a criminal defense attorney, but along the way her interests changed to the field in which she is involved today – immigration law.

Hamilton’s work has been recognized and received the Young Lawyer Pro Bono Award from the Allegheny County Bar Association, presented at the Fall Foundation Reception Sept. 24 at the Hotel Monaco in Downtown Pittsburgh. Hamilton was one of six individuals honored, along with one law firm.

Pro bono, Latin meaning “for the public good,” refers to professional work done voluntarily and without payment.

Hamilton, a 2011 graduate of Bethel Park High School, said she was honored to receive the award.

“I don’t do it because of any other reason than I love the work that I do,” she said. “I am super honored with the award.”

The Bridgeville resident is a 2018 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Her career goal was in criminal law, specifically working as a public defender. However, that changed while serving an internship in the Allegheny County Public Defender’s Office.

“I saw a lot of the intersection between criminal law and immigration law,” Hamilton said. “We would get a lot of people in the criminal justice system that would also have immigration issues. Ever since I joined the immigration clinic, that kind of changed my career path. My interest still lies in criminal work, but more in immigration.”

Hamilton left the public defender’s office in 2019 when she was selected for a two-year fellowship at the Heinz Asylum Fellow for Pitt Law’s Immigration Law Clinic. During that time, she led the Asylum Pro Bono Project, which created a network of pro bono attorneys for individual asylum seekers and their families.

In that role, Hamilton oversaw more than 17 pro bono attorneys in the representation of those seeking asylum, with 41 individuals receiving services through the project.

When the fellowship ended in 2021, she transitioned into a newly endowed staff attorney position for the clinic, a role in which she continues to serve. Hamilton also serves as the clinic’s adjunct professor of law, teaching the immigration law component.

Since 2019, Hamilton also has held bi-weekly consultation sessions for Pittsburgh’s immigrant population through the Latino Community Center.

Her busy schedule also includes private work and working remotely in immigration law for the Lozano Law Firm, based in San Antonio, Texas.

“I focus primarily on representing vulnerable populations, which can mean asylum seekers,” she explained. “We also work with new visa applicants, which are victims of crime. We do work for the Violence Against Women Act. Recently, we’ve had a lot of Afghan asylum cases, so we’ve been working with the Afghan population pretty heavily. My private immigration work is more marriage-based or employment-based.”

Immigration has been a major topic of discussion in the current presidential race. Former president Donald Trump has mentioned it on multiple occasions, including a local reference to the Haitian population of Charleroi.

Hamilton, 31, classified the way some have described immigrants as “frustrating.”

“It’s frustrating because I think people who view immigrants in a negative way do so because they don’t fully understand the complexity of our immigration laws,” Hamilton said. “Too often I hear or read on social media people demonizing migrants fleeing horrific conditions in their home countries, describing them as illegals who are stealing jobs, taking over communities. “When it comes to the Haitian population in Charleroi, they are here legally and they do have authorization for employment in the U.S. Seeking asylum is a human right protected under U.S. and international law. I think asylum seekers are too often criminalized and treated as political pawns in our broken immigration system.”

With so much attention on immigration, Hamilton admits there is a definite need for more immigration lawyers.

“When you look at asylum cases, if they don’t have an attorney, they have a 20% chance for asylum,” Hamilton said. “Those who are represented, it’s more into the 80s. Pro bono work is so important in immigration work specifically.”