Ex-San Juan mayor joins call for Congress to certify PR as incorporated territory.

Former San Juan Mayor Hernán Padilla (Facebook via Pedro R. Pierluisi)

By THE STAR STAFF

Former San Juan Mayor Hernán Padilla has formally joined a pro-statehood initiative urging the U.S. Congress to certify Puerto Rico as an incorporated territory of the United States, an action supporters argue is long overdue after 128 years under U.S. sovereignty.

The effort, coordinated by attorney Gregorio Igartúa and a group of statehood advocates, calls on federal lawmakers and the president to recognize what the petition describes as Puerto Rico’s “de facto incorporated status.” The group contends that the island already functions in alignment with incorporated-territory standards and that Congress should formally acknowledge that reality as part of the nation’s broader evolution during the United States’ 250th anniversary year.

According to the petition, recognizing incorporation would also align with “the special interests of Gov. Jenniffer González,” who has long advocated for advancing Puerto Rico’s path toward statehood.

Padilla on Sunday expressed agreement with the petition’s position that continued plebiscites -- whether local or federally sanctioned -- are no longer a viable or just path for resolving the island’s political status. He argued that repeated votes risk undermining established rights of U.S. citizenship and distract from what he views as Puerto Rico’s long-standing pattern of political integration comparable to territories that ultimately became states.

He echoed the petition’s comparison that asking Puerto Ricans to vote on their political status is akin to asking African Americans during the civil rights era to vote on whether they should receive federal voting rights.

As a longtime statehood supporter, Padilla said the current territorial arrangement is discriminatory, noting that 3.3 million U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico remain subject to federal authority without full representation or equal treatment under U.S. law. He criticized what he described as an inconsistent federal approach that treats Puerto Rico as incorporated for some purposes and unincorporated for others.

“This arbitrary practice must end,” the statement argues, noting that such contradictions stand in tension with the principles of the U.S. Constitution and the democratic standards the United States expects from other nations.

The petition asserts that Puerto Rico already meets the characteristics historically associated with incorporated territories and has achieved a higher level of assimilation than any previous territory prior to statehood admission.

Padilla joined the petitioners in calling on Congress to certify Puerto Rico’s incorporation without further delay, emphasizing that more than a century has passed since the island was acquired by the United States in 1898.