Puerto Rico needs to be a state.
Puerto Ricans will head to the polls on Sunday to take part in the first ever federally guided politicalstatus referendum on the island. This historic electoral event will mark a turning point in our relations with Congress and the White House.
That day, the U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico will decide if they want to join the Union as the 51st state. I urge everyone in the Sunshine State to take notice of the event.
The more than 1 million Puerto Ricans living in Florida have a responsibility to urge their family members back on the island to vote in favor of the only option that guarantees economic development, a better health and education system, and the same opportunities they enjoy in the states; that’s statehood.
Puerto Rico has been an unincorporated territory of the United States since the end of the SpanishAmerican War in 1898. That’s more than 119 years of colonial rule. Since 1917, the people of this Caribbean island have been American citizens, courtesy of the JonesShafroth Act.
For more than a century, the U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico have been marginalized by geography and political considerations that have left us with what amounts to a second-class citizenship. There is a plethora of examples of this discrimination.
For instance, Puerto Rico currently receives 55 percent in federal funds to cover its Medicaid program. If we were a state of the Union, the minimum would be 83 percent. That’s nearly $1.1 billion that we are losing annually because of the current colonial political status. This same principle applies to nearly all federal programs.
Our veterans, who have served our nation’s cause at great sacrifice and with such distinction, do not have the right to vote for the person who can send them to war. Basic health-care services to our vets are also affected by the political limbo we have experienced since 1898.
This lack of equality, coupled with Puerto Rico’s being in the midst of an unprecedented 12-year-old recession, has forced a massive exodus of our young and bright people. In fact, the island has lost more than 300,000 inhabitants since 2012. Most of them have migrated to Florida, particularly to greater Orlando.
The Interstate-4 corridor, which runs through a must-win, swingvote region, is undergoing a significant demographic change due to a migration of the people from the island. Orange County alone is home to more than 150,000 Puerto Ricans.
Overall, Puerto Ricans now number more than 1 million statewide and represent 28 percent of Hispanic registered voters, closing in on a Cuban population of 1.3 million, which comprises 32 percent of Hispanic voters in the state. That’s an enormous political power; let’s flex it on Sunday.
It is worth mentioning that as of 2016, Puerto Ricans became the second-largest Hispanic bloc in the United States, just behind those of Mexican descent.
Because of the sheer growth of the Puerto Rican community in places such as Orlando and Kissimmee, candidates from both national parties (Democrats and Republicans) will pay close attention to any electoral movement, particularly as it relates to the political status of the territory.
I urge the people of Puerto Rico living in Florida to use this singular and historic opportunity to push to the top of the agenda the issue of inequality felt by the American citizens residing on the island. They should accept no less. They can do this by promoting the vote on Sunday and by touting its results.
In 2012, the U.S. citizens on the island voted, with a robust 54 percent, against the current territorial status. More to the point, on a second question, 61 percent of the people who participated in the status referendum decided to end more than a century of political uncertainty by becoming a full member of our nation through statehood.
A similar result in a few days will give us the tools to gain admission into the Union. It is time. The U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico have waited long enough.
The more than 1 million Puerto Ricans living in Florida have a responsibility to urge their family members back on the island to vote in favor of statehood.