March 1, 2018[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n 2014, Cassandra Jamenez left Puerto Rico to go to school in Marietta, Georgia, in pursuit of a chiropractic degree. In an interview with CNN Jamenez claimed, “In Puerto Rico, no university offers this program. I had to come to the states to pursue this career. I’m not 100% sure [if I’ll remain here after school], but I find the quality of life here better, so I’m more likely to stay than go back.”
According to CNN, on average 230 people move from Puerto Rico to the United States every day. According to the 2012 census, there were over 5 million Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. Puerto Rico has been granted U.S citizenship since 1917 but has not been granted admittance into the United States.
About Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is known as a place of tourism, with its beautiful lands, Mountains, the El Yunque tropical rainforest, and its cultural Spanish colonial buildings, Puerto Rico is the ideal vacation spot for many American travelers.
El Yunque Rainforest/August 22, 2014/Lance Wiedower/CC
Puerto Rico was founded by Christopher Columbus in 1493, it got its name meaning “port of riches” after the discovery of gold in the rivers. Puerto Rico has a large population of over 3.5 million people, and the majority of Puerto Ricans speak both Spanish and English.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Puerto Rico has been a United States territory for 100 years[/perfectpullquote]
Why should Puerto Rico be granted Statehood?
Puerto Ricans pay U.S. federal taxes but have little to no say in government actions. Despite the fact that the Commonwealth government has its own tax laws, Puerto Ricans are required to pay most U.S. federal taxes. In 2009, Puerto Rico paid $3.742 billion into the United States treasury alone.
Puerto Rico has been a United States territory for 100 years. In a vote in 2017, 97% of Puerto Rican voters favored United States Statehood. The U.S. Congress will go through a vote in October of 2017 to decide whether or not Puerto Rico will formally become a part of the United States of America.
Rise News claims, “It is vital for Puerto Rico to become formally recognized and incorporated into the United States because it elevates the quality of life in Puerto Rico, aids in its economic salvation, and fashions innovative and integrative access to education and career opportunities.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=67&v=qN7JrvLFYTM
West Wing, Season 2 Episode 9, “Galileo”/November 29, 2000
Puerto Ricans have to register to get drafted into the U.S armed forces and are expected to serve and die for a commander and chief that they don’t get to vote for.
Puerto Rican Governor, Ricardo Rossello states, “If we compare ourselves with the other fifty states, the fundamental difference is our lack of rights, our lack of participation, and our lack of resources to move our jurisdiction forward.”
Reasons against Puerto Rican Statehood
There have been decades of debate over whether or not Puerto Rico should remain a U.S. territory.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”Messing with the fundamental idea of Americanness is not a great political decision, even if it’s the right decision”[/perfectpullquote]
Puerto Rico is on the verge of filing for bankruptcy. The Puerto Rican economy is heavily dependent on federal tax breaks if they become a state those tax breaks will vanish.
Damage from Hurricane Maria / September 18, 2017
The poverty, crime, and unemployment rates in Puerto Rico are very high if Puerto Rico became a state it would raise the U.S. rates.
If Puerto Rico became a State it would upset the balance in the federal government. Puerto Rico would automatically get 2 seats in the Senate (which would put our number at 102) and 5-6 in the house of representatives. The house or representatives are set to a specific number of 435, so those 5-6 seats would come out of other districts, which would decrease the representation for other States.
In a video by the VlogBrothers, Hank comes to the understanding that “What could be the biggest barrier to Puerto Rican statehood has nothing to do with what’s happening in Puerto Rico, or the politics of the situation. Its simply that Americans don’t seem to like change. By now it almost feels like America’s number of States is somehow numerologically fixed, and these 50 states have always been and shall always be these 50 states. Now, of course, that isn’t true, we have had many different numbers of states throughout our history, but be honest, it’s not about what’s true, it’s about what feels true. And to many people, that’s what America feels like. And messing with the fundamental idea of Americanness is not a great political decision generally, even if it’s the right decision.”
Final Thoughts
There are many pros and cons to Puerto Rican statehood and everyone is entitled to their own opinion on the situation. I believe that it is in the best interest of Puerto Rico and the United States if we were to grant Puerto Rico statehood. But even though you are entitled to your own opinion, you should still have an educated opinion on the subject. Not being able to accept change is not a valid reason for keeping millions of people’s quality of life below average because you don’t want to “change the Fifty Nifty United States song” or “fit another star onto the American flag”.
The idea that you should have an educated opinion can be applied to many controversial issues, so when reading your classmate’s blogs, maybe do some research yourself before arguing against their opinion. That is why I can say with my educated opinion that I am all in favor of Fifty Nifty 51 States.
Featured Image: The fight for Puerto Rican Statehood / June 12, 2017
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Kaylee
I didn’t realize how involved Puerto Rico was with the United States. I agree with your point of view. Even though there would be an increase poverty and disapproval from some citizens in the U.S., I think it would be more beneficial than harmful. This is a great blog post.
TriggerWarning
It seems like it would only help Puerto Rico, U.S. would inherit Puerto Rico’s debt, it would increase poverty, crime, and the unemployment rate in the U.S., and Puerto Rico may not even be able to pay federal income tax which was an initial point of helping America. America’s Economy would go down it seems like.
Rachel
On December 16th, 1773, a group of radical patriots spurred the American Revolution over protests against “no taxation without representation”, this event later became known as the Boston Tea party. America went to war against the British over the fact that they were being taxed by a government that they didn’t get any representation or vote in, that is what we’re doing to Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico pays about $3 billion in taxes to the United States government and yet they don’t get to hold a seat in Congress. They have been held in this middle ground of being apart of the U.S. but not really apart of it for over 100 years.
StudentBlogger
Honestly, I didn’t even realize Puerto Rico was paying taxes, let alone $3 billion worth of them. Your post was very persuasive and well written. Although I didn’t really have an opinion before, Iliked the points you gave and I totally agree. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Bart
I like the sass you put in about being willing to accept change. I also liked the different points of view. I actually didn’t know much of this about Puerto Rico.
Joey
I agree with the post here on the issue. Also there are some things I never knew about Puerto Rico, like 3.742 billion dollars in taxes. I really thought this post was unique and I am now encouraged to go study up on Puerto Rico a bit more now. Thank you very much for sharing this idea and content with us.