The political status of Puerto Rico has ramifications into many spheres of Puerto Rican life, and there are limits to the level of autonomy the Puerto Rican government has. For example, the Island's government is not fully autonomous, and the level of federal presence in the Island is common place, including a branch of the United States Federal District Court. There are also implications relative to the American citizenship carried by people born in Puerto Rico. Specifically, although people born in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are natural born U.S. citizens, their citizenship is not protected by the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. As such, the American citizenship of Puerto Ricans can be taken away by the U.S. Congress unilaterally.This Day in History: March 02: 1917, Puerto Ricans become U.S. citizens, are recruited for war effort. A&E Television Networks. 16 November 2009. Accessed 23 June 2019.John H. Killian. American Law Division, Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Letter dated 9 March 1989 to Bennett Johnston, U.S. Senator from Louisiana, titled "U.S. Congress Discretion Regarding U.S. Citizenship of Puerto Ricans." In, "1989–1991 Plebiscite Over The Political Status of Puerto Rico." Congressional Record. 9 March 1989.What Will Happen to U.S. Citizenship in a New Nation of Puerto Rico? The Word from Washington. Puerto Rico Report. 31 March 2017. Accessed 23 June 2019.José Rodríguez-Suárez. Congress Giveth U.S. Citizenship Unto Puerto Ricans, Can Congress Take it Away? Revista Jurídica. University of Puerto Rico. Vol 55. (1986). Page 627. Puerto Ricans are also covered by a group of "fundamental civil rights" but, since Puerto Rico is not a state, Puerto Ricans are not covered by the full American Bill of Rights. As for taxation, Puerto Ricans pay U.S. federal taxes (import/export taxes, commodity taxes, social security taxes, and medicare taxes, etc.), but most residents of the island are not required to file federal income tax returns.Yes, Puerto Rico pays federal taxes. Here’s how much. Ana Campoy. Quartz. 21 October 2017. Accessed 23 June 2019. Representation-wise, Puerto Ricans have no voting representative in the U.S. Congress, but do have a Resident Commissioner who has a voice in Congress (but no vote except for committee-level voting). Puerto Ricans must also serve in the United States military anytime conscription is ordered, with the same duties as a US citizen residing in the 50 states.
Degree of autonomy Under the Constitution of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico designates itself with the term Commonwealth and Puerto Ricans have a degree of administrative autonomy similar to citizens of a U.S. state and like the States, it has a republican form of government, organized pursuant to a constitution adopted by its people, and a bill of rights. The constitution, approved by the U.S. Congress, went into effect in 1952. In addition, like the States, Puerto Rico lacks "the full sovereignty of an independent nation," for example, the power to manage its "external relations with other nations," which was retained by the Federal Government.
Constitutionally, Puerto Rico is subject to the Congress' plenary powers under the territorial clause of Article IV, sec. 3, of the U.S. Constitution.U.S. Const. art. IV, § 3, cl. 2 ("The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States ..."). U.S. federal law applies to Puerto Rico, even though Puerto Rico is not a state of the American Union and their residents have no voting representation in the U.S. Congress. Because of the establishment of the Federal Relations Act of 1950, all federal laws that are "not locally inapplicable" are automatically the law of the land in Puerto Rico.39 Stat. 954, 48 USCA 734 . "The statutory laws of the United States not locally inapplicable, except as hereinbefore or hereinafter otherwise provided, shall have the same force and effect in Porto Rico as in the United States ...". Following the 1950 and 1952 legislation, only two district court decisions have held that a particular federal law, which does not specifically exclude or treat Puerto Rico differently, is inapplicable to Puerto Rico.The two are: (1)Refusing to apply the Federal Firearms Act to transactions solely within Puerto Rico: United States v. Rios, 140 F. Supp. 376 (D.P.R. 1956) and (2)Refusing to apply federal death penalty to Puerto Rico: United States. v. Acosta Martínez, 106 F. Supp 2d 311 (D.P.R. 2000), rev'd 252 F. 3d 13 (1st Cir. 2001); cert. denied 535 U.S. 906 (2002). The more recent decision was vacated on appeal.See United States v. Rios, 140 F. Supp. 376 (D.P.R. 1956) (refusing to apply the Federal Firearms Act to transactions solely within Puerto Rico); United States. v. Acosta Martínez, 106 F. Supp 2d 311 (D.P.R. 2000) (refusing to apply federal death penalty to Puerto Rico), rev'd 252 F. 3d 13 (1st Cir. 2001); cert. denied 535 U.S. 906 (2002). Efrén Rivera Ramos, Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Puerto Rico School of Law, clarified the meaning of plenary powers, explaining, "The government of a state derives its powers from the people of the state, whereas the government of a territory owes its existence wholly to the United States. The Court thus seems to equate plenary power to exclusive power. The U.S. government could exert over the territory power that it could not exercise over the states." Ramos quotes Justice Harlan, writing in Grafton v. United States, , "The jurisdiction and authority of the United States over that territory [referring to the Philippines] and its inhabitants, for all legitimate purposes of government is paramount,". Ramos then goes on to argue "This power, however, is not absolute, for it is restrained by some then-undefined fundamental rights possessed by anyone subject to the authority of the U.S. government."Puerto Rico's Political Status: The Long-Term Effects of American Expansionist Discourse, by Efrén Rivera Ramos. Levinson Sanford and Bartholomew H. Sparrow. (editors) In, "The Louisiana Purchase and American expansion, 1803–1898." Rowman & Littlefield. 2005. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
Citizenship
Since 1917, people born in Puerto Rico have been given U.S. citizenship. United States citizens residing in Puerto Rico, whether born there or not, are not residents of a state or the District of Columbia and, therefore, do not qualify to vote, personally or through an absentee ballot, in federal elections.
Puerto Ricans "were collectively made U.S. citizens" in 1917 as a result of the Jones–Shafroth Act.The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion: 1803–1898. By Sanford Levinson and Bartholomew H. Sparrow. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2005. Pages 166, 178. "U.S. citizenship was extended to residents of Puerto Rico by virtue of the Jones Act, chap. 190, 39 Stat. 951 (1971)(codified at 48 U.S.C. § 731 (1987))" The act was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on March 2, 1917.
Clarification of federal law codified on U.S. Code Title 8 as , approved by President Harry S. Truman on 27 June 1952, declared all persons born in Puerto Rico on or after 1941 to be U.S. citizens at birth and all persons born in Puerto Rico between 11 April 1899 and 12 January 1941, and meeting certain other technical requirements, and not citizens of the United States under any other Act, are declared to be citizens of the U.S. as of 1941.
In addition, an April 2000 report by the Congressional Research Service, asserts that citizens born in Puerto Rico are legally defined as natural-born citizens and are therefore eligible to be elected President, provided they meet qualifications of age and 14 years of residence within the United States. According to this report, residence in Puerto Rico and U.S. territories and possessions does not qualify as residence within the United States for these purposes.
Rights of residents Since Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory (see above) and not a U.S. state, the United States Constitution does not fully enfranchise US citizens residing in Puerto Rico.
Only the "fundamental rights" under the federal constitution apply to Puerto Rico, including the Privileges and Immunities Clause (U.S. Constitution, Article IV, Section 2, Clause 1, also known as the Comity Clause) that prevents a state from treating citizens of other states in a discriminatory manner, with regard to basic civil rights. The clause also embraces a right to travel, so that a citizen of one state can have privileges and immunities in any other state; this constitutional clause regarding the rights, privileges, and immunities of citizens of the United States was expressly extended to Puerto Rico by the U.S. Congress through the federal law codified on the Title 48 of the United States Code as and signed by President Truman in 1947.Torres v. Puerto Rico. The Supreme Court has indicated that once the Constitution has been extended to an area (by Congress or the Courts), its coverage is irrevocable. 'To hold that the political branches may switch the Constitution on or off at will would lead to a regime in which they, not this Court, say "what the law is." '.Downes v. Bidwell, 182 U.S. 244, 261 (1901), commenting on an earlier Supreme Court decision, Loughborough v. Blake, 18 U.S. (5 Wheat.) 317 (1820); Rasmussen v. United States, 197 U.S. 516, 529–530, 536 (1905) (concurring opinions of Justices Harlan and Brown), that once the Constitution has been extended to an area, its coverage is irrevocable; Boumediene v. Bush—That where the Constitution has been once formally extended by Congress to territories, neither Congress nor the territorial legislature can enact laws inconsistent therewith. The Constitution grants Congress and the President the power to acquire, dispose of, and govern territory, not the power to decide when and where its terms apply.
Other fundamental rights such as the Eleventh Amendment and the Dormant Commerce Clause were expressly extended by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, Fifth Amendment, the due process clause and the equal protection guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment were expressly extended to Puerto Rico by the U.S. Supreme Court.Posadas de Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Company of Puerto RicoExamining Board v. Flores de OteroPuerto Rico v. Branstad – Extradition Clause was expressly extended by the U.S. Supreme Court to Puerto Rico.
In a brief concurrence in the judgment of Torres v. Puerto Rico, Supreme Court Justice Brennan argued that any implicit limits from the Insular Cases on the basic rights granted by the Constitution (including especially the Bill of Rights) were anachronistic in the 1970s.Eleventh Amendment to the United States ConstitutionDormant Commerce Clause
Judiciary Article Three of the United States Constitution establishes the judicial branch of the federal government. This article was expressly extended to the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico by the U.S. Congress through Federal Law 89-571, 80 Stat. 764, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966. After that date, judges appointed to the Puerto Rico federal district court have been Article III judges appointed under the Constitution of the United States. In addition, in 1984 one of the judges of the federal district court, Chief Judge Juan R. Torruella, a native of the island, was appointed to serve in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit with jurisdiction over Puerto Rico, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, and New Hampshire.