The push to make Washington, D.C. a state has never been greater. Not only has the House passed a bill that would admit the federal district as a state this Congress, making it the second consecutive Congress that passed such an act, it has also been introduced in the Senate and there has been a great push for it to become a real state. However, the push to make Puerto Rico, an American territory in the Caribbean which has a population of 3 million, a state has not garnered such attention and support. Granting Puerto Rico statehood would give more than 3 million Americans representation in government.
Puerto Rico is an island territory of the U.S. located in the Caribbean, right next to the island which houses the countries of Dominican Republic and Haiti, and is located about 1,000 miles of the coast of Miami. It became a U.S. possession after Spain gave it to the U.S. after losing the Spanish-American War in 1898.
According to data from the 2020 Census, approximately 3.29 million people currently reside in the territory, the vast majority of whom are Hispanic or Latino (they account for almost 99% of the population on the island). And like all other American territories, none of the residents of Puerto Rico get no representation in Congress (except for a nonvoting delegate in the House, which we’ll get to) nor get to vote for president.
Representation has always been a major principle of the United States. In fact, it was the ideal that the entire country was founded on — “no taxation without representation” — and is one of the main arguments used by both proponents of Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico statehood. Now, because of Puerto Rico’s status as a territory rather than a federal district, most of its residents are exempt from paying federal personal income tax, but are still required to pay payroll tax and a number of other federal non-income related taxes, meaning that many are still subject to taxation by the federal government.
However, citizens of U.S. territories, which, aside from Puerto Rico, also include Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, do not get any representation in Congress, even though all of them are U.S. citizens (there is a special case for residents of American Samoa, who are U.S. nationals rather than citizens, but that isn’t very important here). No American, not even one from the mainland United States, can vote for president or be represented in Congress via a voting delegation if they live in a territory.
(Territories send one nonvoting delegate to the U.S. House, who can introduce legislation and serve on committees but not vote on any legislation, effectively shutting their voices out of Congress. They send no delegates to the U.S. Senate.)
This creates a wonky case in which American citizens in America do not get to vote, while Americans outside of America living in other countries (and even in space!) get to vote for president as long as they were an eligible voter in their home state. This means that a U.S. territory is the only place in the entire universe where an American citizen does not get to vote for president, even though they are literally in the very country where the president rules over!
This is a major problem for Puerto Rico, as it is America’s most populous territory by a mile. Its population of 3.29 million beats the population counts of 21 other states, including states such as Utah, Nevada, Mississippi, Kansas, New Mexico, and Hawaii. In fact, if Puerto Rico was granted full representation, it would have four to five seats in the House and at least six electoral votes. No other territory (or federal district) even comes close to boasting such a large population. The District of Columbia has 689,545 people, and the second-most populous territory, Guam, has just 168,485 people. (The least populated state, Wyoming, has 576,851 people.)
Denying over 3 million Americans the right to vote, representation in Congress, and all other perks and benefits that a state enjoys over a territory is simply unacceptable for a country that was founded on an ideology of equal representation and no taxation without representation.
In addition, Puerto Rico is not nearly as partisan as one might think. Obviously, Hispanics and Latinos lean to the left politically, but many do hold socially conservative views. Realistically speaking, it will be the Democratic Party that grants Puerto Rico statehood, which will likely ensure the party dominates there for at least a few years, but this could wear off, and Puerto Rico could become a swing state or even occasionally send Republicans to Congress. Unlike Washington, D.C., which is deeply partisan, there is no evidence to back that Puerto Rico will be this liberal stronghold that many falsely believe it to be.
(In fact, Puerto Rico’s nonvoting delegate to the U.S. House, Jennifer Gonzaléz, is affiliated with the Republican Party and is a member of Puerto Rico’s New Progressive Party, the slightly more conservative-leaning party.)
Puerto Ricans also want statehood. Practically every referendum held in the state saw the majority of the population favoring statehood, and in 2020, another nonbinding referendum was held there which saw about 53% of voters believing that Puerto Rico should become a state. It is clear that the majority of voters there would like to see statehood happen.
In addition, the quality of life will be improved substantially by becoming state. Not only will it help solve its debt crisis, but it will also help increase the poverty situation in the territory by opening up more job opportunities to Puerto Rico (making it far easier for Puerto Ricans to find a job in the mainland U.S.) and will drastically benefit its citizens. Inequities in the administration of Medicare and Medicaid, family tax credits, and other welfare programs would also be eliminated, and Puerto Ricans would qualify for the food stamp program (they aren’t currently).
These problems and inequalities were highlighted after Hurricane Maria decimated the island in 2017. Not only did many more people die than if a similar storm had hit the Continental United States, but it took the islandfully years to completely recover from the damage caused by it, partially due to poor infrastructure, lack of funds, and other issues. In fact, it was even recently revealed that the Trump administration had tried to block the island from receiving hurricane aid approved by Congress. Making Puerto Rico a state would eliminate all these problems and more.
Simply making Puerto Rico a state would allow it to prosper greatly, which would, as a whole, be beneficial to the United States. The U.S. would be far more motivated to help fix the island’s crime, poverty, and financial problems, and as quality of living improves on the island, the U.S. government could also see more tax revenue flow in from the state (as it currently stands, even if Puerto Ricans had to pay tax, most people don’t earn enough to even make it into the lowest tax bracket).
Making Puerto Rico a state is the morally correct thing to do. Heck, the Spanish-American War was partly started over Puerto Rico, yet America has done little to the island. The upsides of statehood clearly outweigh the downsides, and both Democrats and Republicans alike should be keen on supporting Puerto Rico statehood.