Editor’s Note: This column is the second of two about the recent referendum in which Puerto Ricans voted regarding their territory’s legal status with the United States.
opinion@dailylobo.com
In my previous column, I talked about the legal and political relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States since 1898 in preparation for this discussion about the pros and cons of statehood, independence or free association. This was prompted by a referendum earlier this month on the status of Puerto Rico’s relationship with the United States.
Voters showed their dissatisfaction with the island’s current status as a U.S. territory when 54 percent, or nearly 960,000 people, voted in favor of changing the island’s legal status.
Another 65,882 voters did not respond to the question. When asked how the status should be changed, 61 percent of voters, or 824,195 people, indicated statehood; 33 percent, or 449,679 voters, indicated free association; and 5 percent, or 74,812 voters, indicated full independence. However, there were 480,794 ballots that answered the first question only and not the second, so whether the referendum’s results truly represent the will of the Puerto Rican people is up for debate.
Traditionally, the only options for Puerto Ricans who reject the status quo were either full statehood or full independence.
However this latest vote introduced the new option of free association, which falls about halfway between the two traditional paths. Here’s what each might entail:
Statehood for Puerto Rico would bring such a great number of benefits that it would seem hard to vote against it. Puerto Ricans would gain voting representation in Congress, as well as electoral votes in the Electoral College. They would enjoy complete protections and rights under the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and would finally be allowed to partake in the full benefits of Social Security. More concretely, the new state of Puerto Rico would be eligible for billions of dollars in federal aid, which could help the current 13 percent unemployment rate and weakening infrastructure.
On that note, some mainland Americans might see statehood for Puerto Rico as merely another welfare drain. However, if managed correctly, that aid money could be used to effectively rejuvenate the local economy and infrastructure. It could also help stop the breakup of families, because younger Puerto Ricans would no longer have to come to the mainland United States to seek better opportunities. Being from Connecticut, where there is a large Puerto Rican population, I can attest to this last problem personally. Several of my Puerto Rican friends have split families and only see their grandparents or other relatives once every few years due to the cost of travel to and from the island.
Statehood would bring some potentially unwanted changes. As citizens of a state, all Puerto Ricans would be required to pay federal income taxes, and all corporations doing business in Puerto Rico would be required to pay federal corporate taxes.
There is also a fear that Puerto Rico’s statehood would lead to contamination of Puerto Rico’s unique culture by mainstream American culture.
Full independence for Puerto Rico has been largely seen as a drastic step and has not enjoyed popular support. Independence is not a wise choice, mostly because Puerto Rico is not economically equipped for independence. While it is extremely well off as far as Caribbean nations go, most of its economic power comes from its close links to the United States and complete integration into the Federal Reserve System, which would be lost upon independence.
Also, independence would create numerous immigration and citizenship problems. At the time of such a hypothetical separation, would Puerto Ricans living in the mainland United States still be U.S. citizens? Would there be a grace period during which they could decide which country’s citizenship to claim? What about dual citizenship? Would there be a cutoff date for Puerto Rican citizenship, or would all people born in Puerto Rico, no matter how many decades ago, automatically be made Puerto Rican citizens? Would mainland-born children with island-born parents be Americans or Puerto Ricans? There are many more questions. Ignoring economic issues for the moment, the trouble that this alone would cause for the island and the United States is a strong argument against independence.
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Finally, the new compromise position, called a compact of free association, polled at 33 percent support and is the system currently used between the U.S. and the countries of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau. It could potentially prevent some, but not all, of the problems Puerto Rico would face as an independent country.
Technically, the three countries with these compacts are sovereign nations, separate from the United States. However, at the same time, these nations enjoy U.S. federal aid and services from agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Weather Service, the U.S. Postal Service, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration.
These three nations also enjoy full protection by the U.S. military, and their citizens can be recruited into the U.S. military. However, the United States does not control these countries’ foreign policies and may not declare war on their behalf. Also, as long as they have passports, residents of these nations may live and work freely in the United States, and U.S. citizens may live and work freely in these nations as well.
Choosing this option would negate many of the aforementioned immigration and citizenship drawbacks to independence, and it would potentially give Puerto Rico a solid enough backing to survive the transition period while forging its own economy and establishing diplomatic ties with other nations.
Essentially, it seems that statehood is the best option for the Puerto Rican people, in order to alleviate the major problems on the island. Though Puerto Rico would give up its federal income tax and corporate tax exemptions, the benefits of having equal footing with the 50 states would help the island immeasurably, and the risks would be minimal. At the same time, though full independence has not been proven to be a viable alternative to statehood, a compact of free association, while not as immediately beneficial as statehood and still full more difficulties, could be an acceptable alternative that could prove to be just as positive for Puerto Rico in the long run.
