How important is U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans? The answer to this question is clear and has been recognized for decades: U.S. citizenship is important to just about everyone who lives in Puerto Rico.
U.S. Citizenship is Important Even to the Small Number of Puerto Ricans Who Favor Independence
A recent survey in Puerto Rico asked 1,138 voters on the Island about how important their U.S. citizenship is to them. The chart below shows the results by political party.
Roughly 85% of voters in Puerto Rico say that their citizenship is either very important (60%) or important (15%). Even among the small number of Puerto Ricans who favor independence, almost 40% say that their U.S. citizenship is either very important or important – an interesting statistic given the vulnerability of U.S. citizenship in a sovereign Puerto Rico.
Only 6% of poll participants said that U.S. citizenship is not important to them.
Perhaps even more telling, 26% of members of the Independence Party said that their U.S. citizenship is very important, and another 13% described U.S. citizenship as important. Fewer than a third of independentistas consider U.S. citizenship unimportant. Within the MVC party, which has made alliances with the Independence Party in the past, 76% said U.S. citizenship is either important or very important.
Could an Independent Puerto Rico Keep U.S. Citizenship?
This would be highly unlikely, and virtually impossible to guarantee long term. Statements from the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government by officials of both the Democratic and Republican parties have made it clear that retaining U.S. citizenship for any meaningful length of time is simply not a viable option in the view of the U.S. government. Since the U.S. government is in charge of decisions about U.S. citizenship, that’s the answer to the question.
- “The proposal that virtually 100% of the population of Puerto Rico could keep the current U.S. nationality and statutory citizenship and at the same time also acquire separate Puerto Rican nationality and citizenship under a new government-to-government treaty relationship establishing separate sovereignty, is legally inconsistent and politically incompatible with separate sovereignty for Puerto Rico.” — Ambassador Fred M. Zeder II, the President’s Personal Representative for Micronesian Status Negotiations, who negotiated the first free association compacts. (Read full testimony)
- “[Under] mandates that all persons born in Puerto Rico receive U.S. citizenship, the United States would be required to confer U.S. citizenship on persons whose admission to Puerto Rico it apparently would not control. This is an unacceptable surrender of sovereignty by the United States with profound consequences since birth in Puerto Rico would guarantee the right to enter, live, and work in any part of the United States.” — Assistant Legal Advisor for Treaty Affairs Robert Dalton, U.S. Department of State (Read full testimony)
- “The people of Puerto Rico should understand what choosing independence or sovereignty entails: that is, separation from the U.S. federal system and the related benefits.” —Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR), Chairman, Natural Resources Committee, U.S. House of Representatives.
The problem is, supporters of independence — and especially of independence with a Compact of Free Association — frequently claim that Puerto Rico can be a sovereign nation and still keep U.S. citizenship.
The survey mentioned above also asked respondents how they planned to vote in the next referendum. The answers:
- statehood: 45%
- independence: 11%
- sovereign free association: 25%
The survey then asked how they would vote if given a choice only between statehood and independence. The answers:
- statehood: 73%
- independence: 27%
That is, one third of those who planned to choose free association did not want independence. They apparently did not understand that free association is independence, with a negotiated Compact of Free Association with the United States, assuming such a negotiation could result in a deal.
Separatists have been claiming that many voters chose “a sovereignty option” in the last plebiscite, counting both independence and free association as votes for independence — which they would be. However, 73% of those who were given independence and statehood as the only choices, chose statehood. That suggests that the fantasy of free association as a form of independence with U.S. citizenship may have been the draw.
What Does this Mean for Future Status Votes?
As a U.S. territory, Puerto Rico does not have its own sense of sovereignty and it is outside of the U.S. democratic process.
U.S. citizenship would be secure if Puerto Rico were to gain sovereignty through statehood but not if Puerto Rico were to become sovereign as a new nation. Given how important the issue of U.S. citizenship is to Puerto Rico voters, it may be clearest if any future plebiscite ballot simply asked voters whether they would like to keep and protect their U.S. citizenship, for themselves and generations to come. If the answer is yes, as it appears to be now and historically, the path to sovereignty and reform of the undemocratic arrangement that U.S. has with Puerto Rico points to statehood.
