Today is Puerto Rico Citizenship Day. It was March 2, 1917 that Congress gave statutory U.S. citizenship to anyone born in Puerto Rico.
Citizenship Day is also traditionally associated with pro-statehood advocacy. Under statehood, the U.S. Constitution would protect U.S. citizenship to anyone born in Puerto Rico. Today, as a U.S. territory, Puerto Rican access to U.S. citizenship is based on the 1917 law. Puerto Rican independence would lead to a loss of U.S. citizenship.
The voters of Puerto Rico have chosen statehood as their preferred political status in the last four status referenda. Most recently, in November of 2024, 58% of voters chose statehood in a three-way contest. For statehood to be achieved, Congress would have to pass a law to do so. For this reason, statehood efforts generally focus on education and advocacy in Congress.
Puerto Rico Equality & Statehood Summit Planned
The Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration has announced the first annual Puerto Rico Equality & Statehood Summit in Washington, D.C., beginning Monday, March 3, 2025.
This is a two-day event celebrating the 108th anniversary of the granting of U.S. citizenship to people born in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Governor Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon is the primary organizer of the event.
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