He argues before the United States Supreme Court that if Puerto Rico wants access to more assistance programs such as SSI, it has to pay federal taxes.
The debate on the political relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States was rekindled today after some statements made by the Attorney General of the administration of President Donald Trump before the federal Supreme Court.
Attorney Jeffrey Wall stated that statehood carries a “financial burden” that Puerto Rico must assume if it wants to receive assistance such as the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.
In the same expression, he stated that, on the contrary, receiving these aid under the current status represents a “unilateral fiscal relationship”.
For the lawyer and political analyst Carlos Díaz Olivo, this statement does not represent a surprise, because “Trump is clear that he has no major interest with respect to Puerto Rico.”
However, he said that “if SSI were achieved under the current status, you could say that statehood is not necessary, because under the Commonwealth (ELA) they continue to participate fully in all these federal programs.”
“But if the position of the executive prevailed, the one who would end up losing is the current status, because then there are some differences in territorial status, that there is no equal participation of the funds and that was now completely validated in a recent decision by the Supreme Court, where certainly as they can only be obtained is by statehood, “he added.
