July 25 – A day to celebrate federalism

Puerto Rican flags and a U.S. flag hang outside a community in northern Puerto Rico, on Oct. 25, 2017. The American citizens of Puerto Rico “have more than enough reasons to celebrate federalism in Puerto Rico on July 25th, the day we fulfilled all the requirements for statehood, and to claim all our rights as American citizens to be able to vote in presidential and congressional elections,” contributing columnist Gregorio Igartúa writes. (Erika P. Rodríguez/The New York Times)

By Gregorio Igartúa

Special to The Star

American citizens of Puerto Rico are confused about the legal and political status of Puerto Rico. This confusion is due to the ignorance of many politicians, the contradictory opinions of local and federal courts, and particularly by the insistence of some Popular Democratic Party leaders that Puerto Rico has a political relationship with the United States that does not fall within the United States constitutional system and which the federal government has stated does not exist (ELA).

The answer to our political dilemma can be traced and found by evaluating and comparing how the United States Congress has legally and politically disposed of Puerto Rico with the requirements it imposed on the former territories to qualify for statehood. In 1787, Congress adopted the Northwest Ordinance, which established the requirements for statehood for the territories west of the Ohio River. These requirements included a defined geographic area, a minimum population, an organized government, a legislature, a court, and the appointment of a territorial delegate or resident commissioner to Congress. If one compares what Congress has done legally and politically with Puerto Rico since 1898 with the previous requirements, one can conclude that Puerto Rico has been gradually moved by Congress to a federalist relationship equal to that of the Northwest Territories.

Puerto Rico was acquired by the United States as a territory in 1898 under the Treaty of Paris, which provided in part that the civil and political rights of the native inhabitants of the territories ceded to the United States would be determined by Congress (U.S. Const. Article IV).

Since then, the United States has gradually incorporated Puerto Rico with the consent of Puerto Rico’s American citizens as if it were a state. In 1900, Congress passed the Foraker Act, which organized Puerto Rico’s government into three branches: executive, judicial and legislative, as in the states. In 1917, the Jones Act granted American citizenship to Puerto Rico residents. Thirty years later, Congress authorized the first popular election of a governor in Puerto Rico. A 1951 act of Congress reaffirmed Puerto Rican birthright citizenship retroactive to 1941.

In 1952, the American citizens of Puerto Rico established a republican government, that is, a government with an executive, judicial, and legislative branch, in compliance with Article IV, Section 4 of the United States Constitution, just like the states. The Constitution of Puerto Rico was adopted in 1952 to govern our internal affairs. The Constitution was freely approved by the American citizens of Puerto Rico and ratified by Congress through an act signed by the president of the United States. In the preamble to the Constitution, the American citizens of Puerto Rico swear allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, affirm their permanent and irreversible union with the United States, and freely and voluntarily submit to the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution and to the application of federal laws. These rights are due to the efforts of political leaders such as Santiago Iglesias Pantín, Luis Muñoz Marín, Don Luis A. Ferré and Miguel A. García Méndez.

American citizens residing in Puerto Rico are under the jurisdiction of all three branches of the federal government. The national census operates in Puerto Rico as it does in the states.

The 2020 census showed a population of 3.3 million in Puerto Rico, which qualifies us to have seven electors in presidential elections, and two senators and five representatives in Congress. The citizens of Puerto Rico have demonstrated their loyalty to the nation by serving with dedication, distinction and honor in the U.S. Armed Forces in all armed conflicts since 1917. All income from sources outside Puerto Rico is subject to federal taxes. Puerto Rico contributes over $5 billion annually to the federal treasury from various revenue sources, an amount greater than that of some states.

All of the above constitutes evidence that the American citizens of Puerto Rico have exceeded the requirements of the Northwest Ordinance to such an extent that the U.S. Congress can certify Puerto Rico as an incorporated territory in transit to statehood (See R. Hernández Colón, The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico: Territory or State. P.R. Bar Journal 207 (1959)). We have more than enough reasons to celebrate federalism in Puerto Rico on July 25th, the day we fulfilled all the requirements for statehood, and to claim all our rights as American citizens to be able to vote in presidential and congressional elections, as is our democratic right by law and justice. LET US CELEBRATE JULY 25TH.

Gregorio Igartúa is an attorney and longtime advocate of statehood for Puerto Rico.