Former San Juan mayor Padilla urges Trump, Congress to recognize Puerto Rico as incorporated US territory
By THE STAR STAFF
Former San Juan Mayor Hernán Padilla has called on President Donald Trump to support a congressional effort to formally certify Puerto Rico as an incorporated territory of the United States, arguing that the island’s political status has remained unresolved for more than 128 years since it became a U.S. possession.
In a recent letter, Padilla urged the president to work with Congress to recognize what he described as Puerto Rico’s existing political reality and advance the island’s path toward statehood.
“Puerto Rico already functions as an incorporated U.S. territory,” Padilla wrote, contending that formal incorporation should be recognized as the next step in the island’s political evolution.
The former mayor’s appeal aligns with a petition promoted by a pro-statehood group coordinated by attorney Gregorio Igartúa and others. The petition argues that Congress should officially certify Puerto Rico’s incorporation into the United States, a move supporters say would clarify the island’s constitutional status and further its eventual admission as a state. Padilla noted that the effort is consistent with the priorities of Gov. Jenniffer González Colón. The governor recently signed a petition seeking statehood for Puerto Rico.
Padilla, who served as mayor of San Juan from 1977 to 1985, also criticized the continued use of plebiscites to address Puerto Rico’s political status, arguing that the issue should not be subject to repeated referendums.
“Continuing to rely on local or federally sanctioned votes leaves the rights of U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico in limbo and distracts from the island’s long-established path toward statehood,” he wrote.
Drawing a comparison to the U.S. civil rights movement, Padilla argued that fundamental rights should not depend on electoral approval. He said Puerto Rico has followed a historical pattern of political integration similar to that of U.S. territories that later became states.
The former mayor described the island’s current status as discriminatory, pointing to what he characterized as unequal treatment of Puerto Rico’s 3.2 million residents despite their U.S. citizenship.
“I believe it is discriminatory that some 3.2 million American citizens live under a government without the consent of the governed and receive different economic, political, and legal treatment,” Padilla wrote.
Padilla argued that Puerto Rico has been treated inconsistently, being regarded as incorporated for some purposes and unincorporated for others, a situation he said conflicts with the principles of the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
He also highlighted the island’s military service record, noting that Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917 and have served in every major American conflict since then. At the same time, he pointed to the inability of Puerto Rico residents to vote in presidential elections while millions of Puerto Ricans living in the states can participate in federal elections.
Padilla called on the president and Congress to certify Puerto Rico’s incorporation “without further delay” as a step toward achieving equal rights and eventual statehood.
The former mayor was the first Hispanic president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and remains affiliated with the Puerto Rico Republican Party.
