[This article was written after Puerto Rico’s 2012 status referendum. In June 2017, Puerto Rico voted in another controversial referendum, again technically in favor of statehood. Most of this five-year-old article is still accurate after the 2017 vote. -Editor]
Earlier this month, papers reported that Puerto Rico had voted to become a state of the U.S. – but will it really happen? What does it take to become a state, anyway? Last time, we explained Puerto Rico’s current status – now for answers about the territory’s future….
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| A possible 51-star U.S. flag. Since each star on the flag represents one state, a new one would need to be added for Puerto Rico (public domain; source). |
Why would Puerto Rico want to become a state?
Puerto Rico’s current situation leaves it disadvantaged compared to the states. It has its own constitution and government, but the laws establishing them are subject to approval by the U.S. Congress. And despite the fact that most federal taxes and other laws apply to Puerto Ricans, residents have no real representation in Congress and no say in the presidential election. (For more details, see What is Puerto Rico?)
Is statehood the only option?
No – in Puerto Rico’s November 6th referendum, voters had two other choices besides becoming a U.S. state:
1. Full Independence – This would mean cutting all territorial ties to the U.S. and becoming the world’s newest country. However, this option is unpopular in Puerto Rico, because locals are taught from a young age that independence wouldn’t be feasible (a questionable claim).
2. Sovereign Free Association – In fact, this option would also officially make Puerto Rico an independent country – but it would be allowed to keep U.S. military protection and some other government services on a voluntary basis. Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau currently have this status.
A fourth possible option – continuing as a U.S. territory but under modified terms – was controversially left off of the ballot.
What would a State of Puerto Rico look like?
In terms of population, Puerto Rico’s 3.7 million people would make it a medium-sized state, with two senators and about five representatives in the U.S. Congress (and therefore about seven electoral votes for the president). Economically it would be the weakest of the states (though still stronger than most countries). But what it would lack in economic power, it would make up for in cultural and historical uniqueness, as the only state with a Spanish-speaking majority and the only state ever visited by Christopher Columbus. Geographically, it would be the third smallest of the states by area, and would contain both the new easternmost and the new southernmost points in the 51 states.
 Territory Name: • Puerto Rico (English, Spanish) Official Name: • Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (English) • Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico (Spanish) Capital: San Juan |
How can a territory like Puerto Rico become a state?
The U.S. Constitution only specifies that new states can’t take territory from existing states without their permission, so the procedure is based largely on the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. That law set up the first organized American territory, in what’s now the Midwest, and defined the process for admitting new states.
To qualify for statehood, an area must have a population of at least 60,000 (no problem for Puerto Rico – there are over six times that many people just in the capital city). Then the U.S. Congress needs to pass an “enabling act” to get the ball rolling by authorizing the territory to draft a state constitution. Once it’s ready, the state is admitted through a majority vote in Congress and the President’s signature, just like any other law. That’s all.
Then Puerto Rico will become a state now, right?
Not so fast – it’s actually not clear whether the people of Puerto Rico really do want to become the 51st state. Here’s the story: the recent referendum first asked whether Puerto Rico should remain a U.S. territory like it is now, and 54% voted “no” – so far, so good. Then it asked a separate question on what the best option for change would be – on this question, 61% of the votes went for statehood (compared to 33% for free association and 6% for full independence). Statehood it is then, right?
Not quite. The meaning of the results is controversial, because many people left the second question blank, and if you include them, statehood only had 45% support. And even if you don’t count the blank votes, 61% of the people who chose change on the first question would still add up to less than 50% of the total voters. On top of all this, the territory’s pro-statehood governor was voted out on the same day, in favor of a candidate who supports the status quo. And it’s been suggested that even a real 50% wouldn’t be enough to fairly count as a mandate, since joining the union is basically irreversible (the last time any state tried leaving, lots of people died).
So, will it happen or not?
Probably not. In principle, President Obama has said he would support Puerto Rican statehood if the people clearly wanted it, and the opposing Republican Party wrote in their 2012 platform that they would support it too. But since the will of the people is anything but clear in this case, Congress reportedly has no plans to act on the referendum.
A statehood law admitting Puerto Rico might not pass so easily anyway: since the new state might end up voting blue, the Republicans in Congress could be reluctant to admit it after all. And in any case, the process would likely be very slow: the legislators have their hands full with other issues already, and adding a new state could lead to a long process of haggling over how to rearrange the population-based seats in the House of Representatives (they would have to either be added to or redistributed to make room for Puerto Rico).
Nevertheless, Puerto Rico’s pro-statehood movement is still giving it all they’ve got. The territory’s non-voting delegate to Congress, as well as the recently defeated governor, both have pushed forward in asking President Obama to get the process moving. And though it may seem like a lost cause in the short term, sources tell Political Geography Now that many Puerto Ricans are hoping statehood can at least be considered more seriously from now on.
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| Map of the whole U.S. plus Puerto Rico (red). Puerto Rico would be the southernmost and the easternmost state, and the third smallest. Map by Vrysxy (source; CC BY-SA) |
How would Puerto Rico be the smallest state? Wikipedia lists PR as 5,325 sq mi (total area), putting it third in size above Rhode Island (1,545) and Delaware (2,489) and just behind Connecticut (5,543).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_area
Yes, it should say "third smallest". It's been corrected now. Thanks for the catch!
I am a Puertorican but live in Florida U.S.and trust me, the puertoricans really need to become a state
Thanks for your perspective, Cristina! What are your reasons for wanting Puerto Rico to become a state?
Actually, Puerto Rico wouldn't become the eastern most state, since part of Alaska extends into the eastern hemisphere.
Point taken, but I think that depends on how you define "easternmost". Looking for the greatest longitude east is one way to do it, but it's a bit pedantic in my opinion (and based on the arbitrary placement of the Prime Meridian). When someone asks what the easternmost point is, they expect it to be measured from the country's center.
The first paragraph only tells part of the story. Yes, Puerto Ricans don't have representation in Congress, but they also don't pay federal taxes. What you call "disadvantaged" I think is very much up for debate – personally, I'd love to not pay federal taxes! They also have the right to field their own national sports teams in all competitions, Olympics included. That's not a small issue – Puerto Ricans have a strong sense of their identity and really support these teams. If Puerto Rico were to become a state, it would lose these two privileges. The pro-statehood lobby has not always been upfront with the Puerto Rican people about this.
One other issue is that Congress is not terribly enthusiastic about the idea of PR as a Spanish-speaking society. The island is nominally bilingual, but for all practical purposes is monolingually Spanish-speaking. That would change if the island becomes a state. English would become much more prominent in the educational system (the goal would likely be to transition students to English-only classes) and in society as a whole. This is another issue that the pro-statehood lobby tends to tap dance around.
The Puerto Rican people are not being offered an honest debate here. If all the long-term plans for the island under U.S. rule were made clear, you'd likely see much more support for independence than there is now. The people are being told they can have their cake (keep their language, sports teams and tax-free status) and eat it too (Congressional representation). They could seriously have buyers' remorse down the road if they vote for statehood.
They do pay many federal taxes, although most Puerto Ricans are indeed exempt from the federal income tax. There are more details in the What is Puerto Rico? article.
The issue of fielding their own national sports teams is an interesting one. It does seem like that wouldn't be the case anymore if they became a state, but are you completely sure?
Thanks for the opinions. I appreciate your perspective. But who would insist on the transition to English-only classes? I would think that would be up to the state government to decide.
Puerto rico will deny your rights as a american. I've been denyed my rights to protect my family on several occations. My human rights, civil right, and experianced racism. I've lived here for 7 mts and not once has the courts proteced me from my twisted mother in-law. She tried to have me arrested and my kids taken from me, she's commited delitos left and right, and no help at all. Crimes she would be in jail for in the states she pays to get off and does. My advice is before moving here get a lawyer on stand by. My mother in-law don't like me and no other reason for causing problems. But why terriorize children? No good reasons have came out of her.
I'm not sure joining the U.S. would mean they loose the right to field their own sports teams as mentioned above.
In the UK for example, made up of the constituent countries of England, Wales, Scotland and NI does not always compete internationally as the UK or as Britain, though it does in the Olympics. In fact in many sports, such as rugby and football[soccer] these countries compete separately – I don't see what would be stopping PR from doing the same if it becomes a state. Perhaps it depends on the individual sport and/or league?
BLANK BALLOTS DO NOT HAVE VALIDATE IN THE USA & PR JUDICATURE!… THE SECOND QUESTION ONLY CAN VOTE THE VOTERS THAT DO NOT FEEL CONFORMED WITH THE STATUS QUO NAMED E.L.A. (TERRITORY). IF THE VOTERS MARK "YES" IN THE FIRST QUESTION, THEY DON'T NEED TO MARK THE SECOND QUESTION!!..SO THATS THE REASON WHICH OVER 400K DO NOT FILLED DE SECOND QUESTION. THE SECOND QUESTION ONLY CAN BE THERE THE NO TERRITORIAL OPTIONS (STATEHOOD, INDEPENDENCE O FREE ASSOC.)!!..SO THE "E.L.A.TERRITORY" CAN NOT BE THERE!
The worst thing that can happened to the island, is to become a state
http://luis40pr.wordpress.com/2013/07/18/puerto-rico-51-state-part-1/
Greetings Partner,
We need to work together to decolonize Puerto Rico and free Oscar López Rivera. Join 2 peaceful protests until it is accomplished!
We will have a peaceful protest on Saturday, November 23rd in Puerto Rico for the liberation of our patriot and political prisoner Oscar López Rivera. Click on the link below for more information.
Un abrazo,
José
http://www.TodosUnidosDescolonizarPR.blogspot.com
The general impression that you take from the article is that Puerto Ricans are a bunch of people without common descent, history, culture, or language. When the author speaks (in both articles) about if we are "Americans", he must clarify that the term "american" refers to citizenship. Yes, Puerto Ricans are "american citizens" (Imposed over Puerto Ricans on 1917), but not "Americans" in cultural terms. Actually, there have been a problem with the people of the United States, when they speak about themselves as "Americans". The Argentinians are "Americans", the Brazilians are "Americans", and so on, because we all live in the Americas. But Puerto Ricans are not "Americans" ("from the states") sociologically speaking. And that is another analysis. When you take the Hawaiian and Alaskan statehood process, not to speak about the statehood process in general (I mean, where they have had an election process), the voters of those two states were "Americans" that has migrated previously to those territories. The Puerto Ricans are not, and never have been, "Americans" who flew over there to "do business". Nowadays even much of the militants of the New Progressive Party (The Pro-Statehood Party in Puerto Rico) love there history, culture, and spanish language. I invite you to take a trip to Puerto Rico, and to speak with common people, about statehood and Puertorican culture. You will see…
Thank you for your perspective and feedback! Your points about culture vs. citizenship are well taken, and in my opinion the articles are not misleading in this regard.
The debate over the term "American" is partly a language misunderstanding. In Spanish, "América" refers to the continents of North and South America, but in English it usually refers only to the United States (except in some historical contexts or when used as part of a longer phrase such as "Latin America"). In English, North and South America are "the Americas", not just "America". Likewise, the English language has no word equivalent to the Spanish "estadounidense", and the term "American" used by itself refers only to a person from the United States of America. "American" is the term used by native English speakers all over the world when referring to a person from the U.S.
Mr. Miranda made some very good points about the cultural identity of Puerto Rico. I would be interested in reading Mr. Miranda's response to your comments about what it means to be an American. As an American (US native) living in Asia, I do agree that when people refer to Americans they are referring to people of the United States. I am also curious as to Mr. Miranda's perspective on how the average Puerto Rican views his or her relationship with the United States. Yes citizenship was imposed upon them but do they at all consider themselves American (in the context of Mr. Centanni's response)? So many Puerto Ricans have moved throughout the US as Americans and it would seem there must be some sense of being American among the people of Puerto Rico.
Even though I'm African American I think Peurto Rico should become the 51st US State
Interesting technicality: By one very technical interpretation, Alaska has the eastern-most land in the U.S. This is based on the notion of the International Dateline, which Alaska crosses in its Aleutian islands. From an absolute global perspective, "East" ends at the Dateline as you head east over the Pacific.
Of course, many people would prefer to define "easternmost" as "farthest east from the center of area of the U.S.". In that interpretation, P.R. would indeed be easternmost. 🙂
Yes, that's a good summary of the two different definitions of "easternmost" (I've used the latter because I suspect it better conforms to most people's idea of common sense). Except it's not actually the International Date Line (IDL) that puts part of the Aleutian Islands technically in the Eastern Hemisphere – the time zones are drawn so that the IDL skirts the islands to stay completely west of them.
It's actually the 180th parallel (the line of 180 degrees longitude) that runs through the middle of the island chain. Traveling from mainland Alaska to the end of the Aleutian Islands won't put you in a different date, but it does leave you in a place where someone traveling from the Prime Meridian (0 degrees longitude) would find you to be closer if traveling east than if traveling west.
There is no official language in the U.S. the states are the ones that decide there official language if any. Out of the 50 states 26 states have it as English, 2 as English and Spanish the rest don't have an official language. For the territory of the U.S. Puerto Rico is Spanish and English.
This is all a very interesting debate I'm going to stay comepletly neutral tho but it would be interesting to see what changes would take place if Puerto Rico become a state