Should Puerto Rico be granted statehood?
The sharpest opinions on the debate from around the web
The political status of Puerto Rico has been a contentious topic since the island became an unincorporated territory of the United States in 1901. Under its current status, Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory. While over 3 million Puerto Ricans are born U.S. citizens, those who reside on the island cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections. The island only has one representative in Congress, Republican Jenniffer González-Colón, a resident commissioner who can't vote. The debate about political status divides the island's residents and other diasporic Puerto Ricans. Their three-party government system is divided into supporters of total independence, advocates for statehood, and those who wish to remain a U.S. territory.
There have been 145 bills attempting to address the island's political status debated in the U.S. Congress, according to Charles Venator-Santiago, director of the University of Connecticut's Puerto Rican Studies Initiative. While several measures managed to pass the House, none have ever moved through the Senate and become law. Recently, the House advanced a bipartisan bill known as the Puerto Rico Status Act, under which island residents would decide whether Puerto Rico should become a U.S. state, an independent country, or an independent country aligned with the U.S. All but 16 GOP representatives voted against the bill. Next, it will move to the Senate, where it faces an uphill battle. Should Puerto Rico be granted the opportunity to become the nation's 51st state?
Granting statehood is the only democratic option
A majority of Puerto Ricans voted "yes" to statehood in 2020, recalled Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.) and Del. Jennifer Gonzalez Colon (R-Puerto Rico) in a 2021 op-ed for The Hill. This is the most "simple and compelling" reason for granting statehood, argued the lawmakers, both of whom collaborated on the Puerto Rico Status Act. "Delaying admittance of Puerto Rico as a state to our union would be a direct contradiction of our nation's democratic values."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Plus, statehood would allow Puerto Rico to finally overcome many of its economic challenges, Soto and Gonzalez Colon said. The territory has struggled to cope with the damage from natural disasters like Hurricane Maria in 2017, earthquakes, and, most recently, Hurricane Fiona. Without congressional representation, the island has been forced to pressure the White House to gain access to more emergency funding. "Statehood offers a simple solution that would enable Puerto Rico to finally be on stable ground," and "would offer paths to reform that could result in a more robust economy and a prospering people," Soto and Gonzalez Colon wrote.
Independence would be better than statehood
"Independence, not statehood, is the path we must pursue," wrote Jaquira Díaz for The Atlantic. America has failed Puerto Ricans, leaving them to fend for themselves after natural disasters and subjecting them to decades of injustices — including "population-control policies, starting in the 1930s, that promoted the mass sterilization of Puerto Rican women and used Puerto Ricans for medical experiments," the Puerto Rican author of Ordinary Girls said. Statehood would simply extend the borders of the United States, allowing more Americans to move to Puerto Rico, therefore displacing Puerto Ricans in positions of power. "Self-determination for Puerto Ricans necessitates not just cutting them loose, but also restoring what has been taken and otherwise making amends," Díaz said.
Puerto Ricans should at least be offered a real opportunity to choose
The Puerto Rico Status Act is an opportunity for the U.S. government to give Puerto Ricans "the chance to choose the political status they want with their vote," Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), another lawmaker championing the bill, wrote for The Hill. Most people living on the island "agree that its territory status must end," even if their opinions about its future political status differ. While the bill "doesn't entirely satisfy the ideals of any one side of Puerto Rico's political status debate," what's most important is that "it offers a real opportunity for a fair, transparent process to the island at last."
Puerto Ricans have previously held referenda on statehood, most recently in 2020, but the results were never honored because they were non-binding. "Unlike past votes, this bill requires Congress to honor the vote and implement the political status chosen by the majority," Grijalva wrote. "The voice of the people of Puerto Rico can no longer be ignored."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Theara Coleman has worked as a staff writer at The Week since September 2022. She frequently writes about technology, education, literature and general news. She was previously a contributing writer and assistant editor at Honeysuckle Magazine, where she covered racial politics and cannabis industry news.
-
'People shouldn't have to share the road with impaired drivers'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Is academic freedom in peril?
Today's Big Question Faculty punishments are on the rise
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Quincy Jones, music icon, is dead at 91
Speed Read The legendary producer is perhaps best known as the architect behind Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Statehood for D.C. and Puerto Rico only needs 50 votes
opinion And Democrats don't need to nuke the filibuster to do it
By Jon Walker Published
-
Trump declares major disaster in Puerto Rico
Speed Read
By Summer Meza Published
-
Puerto Rico drains half of emergency funds as it awaits White House response on disaster designation
Speed Read
By Summer Meza Published
-
Trump reportedly joked about trading Puerto Rico for Greenland
Speed Read
By Brendan Morrow Published
-
Report: Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló to resign amid protests
Speed Read
By Brendan Morrow Published
-
Up to 1 million people could take part in Puerto Rico protests
Speed Read
By Tim O'Donnell Last updated
-
Following leak of crude text messages, Puerto Rico's embattled governor won't seek re-election
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Presidential candidates express support for Puerto Rico protests
Speed Read
By Tim O'Donnell Last updated