The ambiguity of whether Puerto Ricans are American citizens remains as a recent poll revealed that about 41% of the total respondents said they did not believe they are while about !5% are unsure (Venator-Santiago, 2017). While this is the case, 100 years ago The Congress, after debating 101 bills related to Puerto Rico, enacted 11 overlapping citizenships which have led to the persons born in the country to confer three different types of citizenship (Venator-Santiago, 2017). For this reason, Puerto Rico as a country has been governed as separate and unequal. In the past, individuals born in Spain but lived in Puerto Rico were allowed to have citizenship for both countries but those born on the island were barred from retaining Spanish citizenship or acquiring the American one on the basis that they acquired the citizenship while Puerto Rico was still a province of Spain (Venator-Santiago, 2017). In the same way, those seeking to become US citizens were first to renounce their alliance with the country before getting American citizenship.
According to CNN, the Trumps administration has brought more confusion regarding the citizens' state of Puerto Ricans. For instance, during the Irma and Maria hurricanes, the president lied about Puerto Rico receiving $91 billion from the United States while in the real sense only $42 has been disbursed so far (Lybrand, 2019). As a matter of fact, the $91 billion would still be short of the $114.5 billion that the government produced as relief during Hurricane Katrina (Lybrand, 2019). This further explains the American view of Puerto Rico as a country. On immigration, Trump brought further controversy by criticizing the asylum process when he suggested that it could easily be gamed. The truth of the matter is that the process is arduous since candidates submit an application explaining as to why they seek asylum. After that, they go through a background check which examines the criminal history and gauges whether their fear for their country is credible.
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References
Lybrand, H. (2019, May 9). Trump continues to mislead on immigration and Puerto Rico disaster funding. CNN . Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/09/politics/fact- check-trump-florida-rally-immigration-puerto-rico/index.html
Venator-Santiago, C.R. (2017, March 2). Are Puerto Ricans really American citizens? The Conversation . Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/are-puerto-ricans-really- american-citizens- 73723
