By José M. Saldaña
Special to The Star
Until the beginning of the 20th century, all possessions acquired by the United States automatically became incorporated territories. Because of this, they were on their way to becoming states of the union.
In 1898, as a result of the Treaty of Paris following the Spanish-American War, Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States. Then in 1900, the U.S. Congress enacted the Organic Law (P.L.56-191) to establish a limited popular government in Puerto Rico.
However, the following year Congress – influenced by the U.S. Supreme Court – determined that for purposes of the Constitution’s Uniformity Clause, Puerto Rico belonged to the United States but would not be considered a part of it. Justice Edward Douglass White, in a concurring opinion, established the concept of «non-incorporation.» That is, it would be up to Congress to decide whether or not a territory would be incorporated into the United States, and when.
Importantly, by defining Puerto Rico as an «unincorporated» territory, Congress concluded that the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights did not fully apply to the island. Thus, the status of an unincorporated territory was imposed upon Puerto Rico.
In 1917, the U.S. Congress granted United States citizenship to people born in Puerto Rico, but five years later the Supreme Court declared that there was a second class of American citizens who, despite being born Americans, could not enjoy the same constitutional rights as other citizens because they were born in an “unincorporated territory” (Balzac vs Puerto Rico, 1922).
Over the next 102 years, much would happen to improve Puerto Rico’s relationship with the United States, but to this day the island remains an unincorporated territory.
In the November 6 plebiscite, which took place in conjunction with the 2024 general election, Puerto Rico statehood obtained 57% support. A majority voted to stop being a poor unincorporated territory of the nation in which they are citizens, in which they belong, but which they are not a part of. They voted to incorporate Puerto Rico as a state with all the benefits and responsibilities that the island does not have today.
At the same time, because of a lack of economic development that is largely due to Puerto Rico’s unincorporated status – and the social crisis that it precipitates – there has been a concurrent increase in nationalist, separatist and socialist sentiment on the island. This sentiment is being shaped by pro-independence movements and nurtured by a trio of socialist countries – Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
It is not in the interest of either Puerto Rico or the United States for the current situation to continue any longer, particularly with China rapidly expanding its presence in the Caribbean and Latin America.
The U.S. Congress has the power to immediately and irrevocably change the current situation. It can act to strengthen the island’s political relationship with the United States by incorporating Puerto Rico.
According to national polls, almost 60% of U.S. citizens on the mainland agree that Puerto Rico should become a state. At the same time, Puerto Rico just elected a new Republican governor – Jenniffer González Colón, who is a strong ally of President Donald Trump. Her first priority can and should be to move Puerto Rico in the direction of becoming an incorporated territory.
With congressional approval of this step in the direction of statehood, Puerto Rico would begin to enjoy the many benefits that statehood would provide. First and foremost, it would substantially improve the island’s economic and social situation by stimulating economic growth and development.
At the same time, it would defeat the radical intentions of leftist ideological groups that are preying on Puerto Rico today by way of a presidential executive order, and thus end any possibility that the island could become the next Cuba in the Caribbean.
José M. Saldaña, DMD, MPH, is a former president of the University of Puerto Rico.