Eight things you should know about Puerto Rico’s unique ties to US

When American comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” during a Donald Trump rally, he set the cat among the pigeons on the last leg of arguably the most divisive American presidential election.

The Caribbean island shares a close yet fraught relationship with the US, home to nearly six million Spanish-speaking Puerto Ricans, who are facing increasing public scrutiny amid Trump’s efforts to demonise migrants, both legal and illegal.

But blatant racism aside, the incendiary comment by the right-wing US comedian about Puerto Rico was factually wrong.

That’s because Puerto Rico is part of the US, and Puerto Ricans are US citizens. Lumping them with “foreigners” – who Trump says are destroying the fabric of US society – was totally incorrect.

Here are the eight things that many people do not know about Puerto Rico and its political status within the US.

A US territory

Puerto Rico became a US territory after the Spanish-American War in 1898. Spain ceded it to the US, which has maintained its sovereignty over the island of over 3.2 million people ever since.

Puerto Ricans received US citizenship in 1917 through Congressional legislation. Another law enacted by the US Congress allowed Puerto Rico to adopt its own constitution, followed by the island establishing a republican form of government in 1952.

Currently, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico exists as an unincorporated territory of the US.

In simpler words, Puerto Rico is neither a sovereign nation nor a US state. Nonetheless, US citizenship guarantees Puerto Ricans fundamental rights under the US Constitution.

The island has a democratically elected governor and an elected territorial legislature to run local affairs. The US president is also the president of Puerto Rico.

But why?

A series of US Supreme Court rulings from the early 1900s, collectively known as the Insular Cases, held that US territories like Puerto Rico were not entitled to full constitutional protections.

The apex court ruled that the US Constitution applied only in “incorporated territories” like Alaska and Hawaii, which had the status of fully fledged US states.

In the case of new “unincorporated territories” like Puerto Rico and Guam in the Pacific Ocean, the US Constitution applied only “partially”.

The Supreme Court’s ruling created the unique category of unincorporated US territories in one of the Insular Cases in 1901. The judge ruled that the US could acquire territory and decide unilaterally which rights it wanted to extend to those in that area.

No representation in Congress

Puerto Ricans living on the island cannot vote in US federal elections. That’s because Puerto Rico is only an unincorporated territory of the US, which makes its status different from those of the 50 states that constitute the United States of America.

However, the island has a non-voting delegate, known as the Resident Commissioner, in the US House of Representatives.

Puerto Ricans residing within the US can vote in federal elections if they maintain residency in one of the 50 states.

But they pay US taxes

Puerto Ricans pay certain US federal taxes like Social Security and Medicare in addition to the income tax collected by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

However, they are excluded from many federal benefits, such as the earned income tax credit. They receive US Social Security benefits upon retirement. But the Medicaid funding they receive from the US is only a small part of the amount they would receive if Puerto Rico were a proper US state.

UN calls Puerto Rico a ‘nation’

The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation has repeatedly said Puerto Rican people constitute a “Latin American and Caribbean nation”.

It has also urged the US to “accelerate a process that would allow Puerto Ricans to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence”.

What do Puerto Ricans want?

There are three long-term political possibilities for Puerto Rico: one, full independence that leads to the island becoming a sovereign nation.

Two, the status quo in which its unincorporated status as a US territory continues.

And three, a US statehood that sees the island becoming a fully incorporated, 51st state of the United States of America.

At least six island-wide non-binding referendums have taken place in Puerto Rico. The latest one showed that 52.5 percent Puerto Ricans preferred US statehood in 2020.

What do US political parties want?

The Democratic Party officially recognises that the people of Puerto Rico have earned the right to resolve the issue of political status. As such, it supports the enactment of the Puerto Rico Status Act, which aims to grant Puerto Rico admission into the US as a state.

In a recent policy shift, however, the Republican Party “eliminated language supporting statehood for Puerto Rico” from its 2024 election manifesto.

The change is in contrast to the Republican Party’s five-decade-old position in favour of statehood for Puerto Rico.

What does the US public think?

A large part of the American population appears to be “confused” as to what Puerto Rico is and whether people from the island are indeed fellow American citizens.

A YouGov poll in 2016 showed four of every 10 Americans were “surprised to learn” that someone born in Puerto Rico—and whose parents were also born in Puerto Rico—were full American citizens.