Context: Donald Trump spewing bullshit about annexing Canada and Greenland. Meanwhile, Congress has been dragging their feet for YEARS on resolving Puerto Rico's territorial status.
Citizens living in US territories do not receive equal representation in congress. For instance, PR has one "delegate" to the House (not an official voting member) and no senators. Taxation without representation.
Although, at this point I wouldn't blame PR if they changed their minds about wanting to become the 51st state.
Oh I believe if you had a referendum right now, PR would go for independence. Tying yourself up to this ship would be bad news. Trump wouldn't just bring back bombing Vieques, he'd turn the main island into a firing range.
I wonder if he'd deport me since I have a PR birth certificate.
Easy way to tell:
I'm not so sure. Climate change had doomed PR. Increasing storms, sea level rise, and location make it an increasingly unviable place to live. If they go out on their own they have nowhere to go.
As it they can move to a state and vote without needing any government approval or immigration. They are US citizens. I live in Florida and have a fair number of friends who are from PR. All of their families are planning on moving here.
Moving is the only part that makes sense, until the trumpets convince the Supremes that birthright citizenship isn’t anymore.
You can be sure PR citizens will be high on the list to be deported back to the island, and with fema and the rest of the doge shut downs, they’ll be fucked by the next hurricane anyway.
It would take more than removing birthright citizenship. Congress granted U.S. citizenship to Puerto Rico citizens in 1917.
But who's gonna toss them paper towels when there's a tsunami?
*a paper towel
The former paper towel budget has been slashed to half a sheet.
Maybe the independence votes will grow, but since there is also still the large Puerto Rican diaspora in the US keeping close ties to the island, it would be difficult to separate from that with an independence movement. And a lot of Puerto Rican communities in the US who are eligible to vote for the president saw an uptick in support for the Republicans anyways, despite the "trash island" comment during Trump's campaign.
At least as of a few months ago, the symbolic vote on the island was still overwhelmingly in favor of statehood, with independence being the least supported option.
Puerto Rico should join Canada.