Search

Describing Puerto Ricans as second-class citizens affirms an ahistorical liberal narrative of citizenship. Drawing on the legislative histories of the citizenship laws for Puerto Rico, this article argues that in 1940 Congress began to enact jus soli or birthright citizenship for Puerto Rico, anchored in the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In Balzac v. People of Porto Rico (1922), the Supreme Court affirmed the principle that locality, not citizenship, determined the application of the Constitution in Puerto Rico. This article demonstrates the representation of Puerto Ricans as second-class citizens is not only historically inaccurate, but also obscures some of the fundamental dimensions of power established by the doctrine of separate and unequal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the journal is presented which discusses topics within the issue including challenges in Puerto Rico and immigrant communities in the U.S.; the trauma experienced by Puerto Ricans as a result of the large-scale migration; and economic and public policy reflections.

In 1948, Congress enacted corrective legislation amending the citizenship provisions of both the Jones Act of 1917 and the Nationality Act of 1940. Under prevailing naturalization laws, a person born in Puerto Rico who acquired a U.S. citizenship under the terms of the Jones Act was given a naturalized citizenship status. It followed that Puerto Ricans, like other naturalized citizens, who continuously resided or worked outside of the United States for five or more years were automatically denaturalized. The Pagán Amendment of 1948 sought to correct this problem by establishing that Puerto Ricans were not naturalized immigrants. Drawing on publicly available archival documents, this note explains the key debates shaping the legal contours of the Pagán Amendment of 1948. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reflects on the 100th anniversary of the enactment of the Jones Act of 1917, which extended United States citizenship to Puerto Ricans. The authors comment on the laws related to naturalization in Puerto Rico and examine the history of U.S. imperialism and relations on the island dating from 1898.