LET US DISCARD THE IGNOMINOUS STATUS  OF PUERTO RICO AS AN UNINCORPORATED  TERRITORY AND BECOME AN INCORPORATED  TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES

LET US DISCARD THE IGNOMINOUS STATUS  OF PUERTO RICO AS AN UNINCORPORATED  TERRITORY AND BECOME AN INCORPORATED  TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES

RELEVANT EVENTS IN OUR POLITICAL HISTORY 

Until the early 20th century, all possessions acquired  by the United States became incorporated territories,  according to the Northwest Ordinance, on their way  to become a state of the union. 

• In 1898, resulting from the Treaty of Paris after the  Spanish-American War, Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the  United States.
• In 1901 Congress enacted the Foraker Act, to establish a limited republican popular government in Puerto Rico consisting of a governor and executive council named by the U.S. President and an elected legislature. 

THE INSULAR CASES: WE BELONG TO BUT ARE NOT PART OF… 

• Between 1901 and 1922, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that, for purposes of the Uniformity Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Puerto Rico was not part of the  United States. We “belonged to but were not part of the  U.S. nation.” These are the infamous “Insular Cases.” 
• Justice White, in his concurring opinion, established the concept of “non-incorporation” – an idea not existing in the U.S. Constitution, when he wrote that Congress  has the discretion whether and when to incorporate a  territory into the United States. It concluded, therefore,  that the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights did not fully  apply to the island. Thus the status of unincorporated  territory was imposed on us. 
• In 1917 with the Jones Act, Congress granted U.S.  citizenship to those born in Puerto Rico and provided  for an elected Senate and House of Representatives. •In1922 the U.S. Supreme Court decided in the Balzac  v. Puerto Rico case that there was a second class of  American citizens – those who, despite being born  American, could not enjoy the same constitutional rights as other citizens because they were born in the unincorporated territory. This was despite Justice  John Marshall Harlan’s warning that such statutes would create a horrendous colonial system alien to constitutional principles of equality. 
• Both the Foraker Act and the Jones Act stipulated that  the U.S. Federal laws should generally apply to the  island, according to Article IV of the U.S. Constitution  which states that Congress has the power to “dictate the  rules and norms with respect to the territory and other  property belonging to it.” Sadly clear. 

CHANGES AUTHORIZED BY CONGRESS •For decades, important political events occurred in the island, such as President Truman’s appointing the first Puerto Rican governor, Jesús T. Piñero in 1946. The  following year Truman signed the act that for first time  allowed the Puerto Ricans to elect their own governor,  and in 1948 they elected Luis Muñoz Marín. •In 1950, Congress enacted the Federal Relations Act  authorizing Puerto Rico to draft its own constitution  – like the states of the Union – on matters of “purely  local concern,” through a Constitutional Assembly to  address two key elements: to establish representative  government and include a bill of rights. 

• The Assembly drafted the constitution which was ratified  by the people of Puerto Rico on March 3, consequently approved by Congress with certain new conditions and signed by President Truman. 
• The people of Puerto Rico approved of the modified  constitution in a referendum and Governor Luis Muñoz  Marín proclaimed Puerto Rico’s constitution (known as  “Constitution Day”) on July 25, 1952, and in a separate  resolution gave the name “Commonwealth of Puerto  Rico” to the new internal governmental structure, though  still an “unincorporated territory.” 
• Current relations between Puerto Rico and the United  States continue to be defined by the U.S. Constitution and the Federal Relations Act. Government affairs,  such as currency, defense, foreign affairs, and interstate commerce are under the jurisdiction of the  Federal government. Puerto Rico’s local government is headed by a Governor and a bicameral legislature elected by popular vote. Puerto Rico is represented by an elected Resident Commissioner in the U.S. House  of Representatives every four years as a non-voting  member. Most recent U.S. Presidents, both Republicans  and Democrats, have said that Puerto Rico’s status  should be determined by the Puerto Rican people. But  that does not absolve him (or possibly her) of political  responsibility for the territory. For Puerto Rico to opt for  a change of status, such a decision would need to be  embraced and implemented through legislation passed  by Congress and signed into law by the President. 
• U.S. Supreme Court decisions have created the framework for determining on a case-by-case basis,  which U.S. Constitutional provisions and laws apply  to unincorporated territories, underscoring the fact  

that we do not have equal protection under the U.S.  Constitution. 

THE NAKED TERRITORIAL CONDITION •Times has changed. The United States should not hold territories. During 2016 the inevitable happened:  monumental bankruptcy of more than $75 billion and the total loss of credit in the stock markets, due to our political leaders in government who spent beyond our ability to produce and pay. 

• The year 2017 was disastrous for the current status. All three branches of the U.S. government starkly pointed out the reality of our status. Besides claims of a local party for 60 years to an autonomy that did not exist,  we were and continue to be an unincorporated territory  under the plenary powers of the U.S. Congress. 
• The U.S. Department of Justice has pointed out, since before the June 2017 plebiscite, that we are an  unincorporated territory under the plenary powers  of Congress. So-called Free Association is clearly  Independence. This was confirmed by the Congressional  Research Service and various congressional committees. •The U.S. Supreme Court in Puerto Rico v. Sánchez  Valle case (2016) ruled that Puerto Rico does not have its own sovereignty in criminal proceedings. Furthermore,  in the recent PROMESA Act passed by Congress following our bankruptcy, a board exercises plenipotentiary powers over this unincorporated territory. This Fiscal  Oversight Board is supreme, regardless of the Puerto  Rico Constitution and laws, supposedly to force us out of our self-imposed fiscal malaise. 
• September 2017 saw Hurricane María devastating our island. The disaster exacerbated our problems of bankruptcy and lack of credit in the financial markets,  leading to a social crisis. The U.S. government’s massive billionaire aid began to flow, slowly, to the Puerto Ricans  – who are U.S. citizens, regardless of the snarled status issue. The humanitarian disaster was avoided. 

ANOTHER PLEBISCITE 

• On December 15, 2022, the U.S. House of  Representatives approved HR 8393, to order holding of  a fifth plebiscite, to be ratified federally, for Puerto Rico  to determine, finally, the political status of the island:  Statehood, Independence, or Free Association (which  would mean independence before ironing out the  relationship between the U.S. and Puerto Rico). The bill  was approved by Congress with 233 votes in favor and  191 against. Prior to the bill’s consideration, President  Joe Biden supported the bill’s passing, saying that, “For too long, residents of Puerto Rico – more than 3 million  U.S. citizens have been deprived of…all the rights and benefits of their citizenship by residing in a U.S. territory.  

HR8393 would take a historic step toward correcting  this error.” 

• The bill did not go to the Senate, with the Democrat majority leader of the House Steny Hoyer (MD) acknowledging there was no possibility of passing that legislation in the other body of Congress. Time had run out as the recent elections had changed the make 

up of both bodies. A new Congress would have to consider the issues all over again. And the underlying reasons were similar, as always: racial/ cultural prejudice, partisan politics, and taxes. The influence of lobbyists for major economic interests benefits those who want Puerto Rico to be treated  as a foreign jurisdiction for tax purposes. Both  Republican and Democrat are swayed by this  financial power. 

• And so it continues. After 124 years of  discriminatory territorial status, Puerto Rico is still  mired in the same mud. 

PUERTO RICO MUST NOW BECOME AN  INCORPORATED TERRITORY 

• Those of us who believe in American liberal democracy, economic freedom and the rights of citizens cannot – must not – assume a passive attitude. We must unite in our passion for justice,  and end the current limiting and degrading status  by insisting that Congress put an end to the racial  jurisprudence that invented a territorial status  called “unincorporated” and recognize us as an  “incorporated territory.” Congress must exercise its constitutional authority as provided in the U.S.  Constitution. And we must organize and activate ourselves to achieve it, as a fundamental step to political equality, the precursor of Statehood. 

LET US AFFIRM THAT 

PUERTO RICO BECOME AN  INCORPORATED TERRITORY  OF THE UNITED STATES! 

Andrés Córdova 

Gregorio Igartua 

Héctor Ramos 

José M. Saldana 

and many more.

CITIZENSHIP AND THE AMERICAN EMPIRE

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