Felicitas Mendez moved with her family from Puerto Rico to live in the states when she was a child. As an adult, she lived in Orange County in Southern California with her Mexican-born husband. When she and her sister-in-law went to enroll their children in their local school in 1943, the Mendez children were rejected…. Read more »
José Andrés, an award-winning chef, became one of the heroes of Hurricane Maria when he and his crew fed 100,000 people a day in more than a dozen kitchens across the Island. In his book about that adventure, We Fed an Island: The True Story of Rebuilding Puerto Rico, One Meal at a Time, Andrés… Read more »
Puerto Rico’s pro-“commonwealth” political party is pushing to include a “commonwealth” option on the ballot of a plebiscite scheduled for November 3, 2020. The United States government has repeatedly rejected many reiterations of “commonwealth” over the years, and some elements of rejected “commonwealth” – such as ongoing U.S. citizenship while achieving separate sovereignty – are… Read more »
Michelle de la Isla, mayor of Topeka, Kansas, is running for Congress, hoping to represent District 2 in her Midwestern state. If she wins, she’ll be the first member of Congress of Puerto Rican descent from her state. De la Isla has lived in Kansas since 2000, when she became a student at Wichita State… Read more »
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services & Education took advantage of a recent congressional hearing to emphasize the need for more financial support for Puerto Rico. Using her allocated time for questions, Rep. Rosa DeLauro carefully made her point. “Let me mention Puerto Rico if… Read more »
Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg unveiled a plan for Latino citizens of the United States. The plan, titled “El Pueblo Unido,” is available in Spanish or in English. The plan lists two specific actions he wants to take to support Puerto Rico: Provide political representation for Puerto Rico. Eliminate disparities in Medicaid funding for Puerto Rico…. Read more »
In an article at The Hill, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) reiterates his “commitment to work for a new Puerto Rico.” Grijalva is chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, which has responsibility for the territories of the United States, including Puerto Rico. Grijalva began by acknowledging not only that Puerto Rico is facing difficult… Read more »
Pedro Pierluisi (New Progressive Party/NPP) will be sworn in today as Puerto Rico’s Secretary of State — but whether he will have the job and become Governor Friday afternoon is uncertain, although it appears to be increasingly likely. Governor Ricardo Rossello Nevares (NPP) this afternoon appointed Pierluisi to serve while the Legislative Assembly is in… Read more »
Puerto Rico’s most recent plebiscite, held June 11, 2017, had a very clear outcome: 97% of voters chose statehood from the territory’s three status options (nationhood in addition to territory status and statehood). The islands’ political factions supporting nationhood and an unprecedented “Commonwealth status” that Federal officials have said is impossible for constitutional reasons had… Read more »
The Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act of 2019 was filed this week. But that was not by any means the first Puerto Rico Statehood Act. Consider the Puerto Rico Statehood Act of 1977, introduced by President Gerald Ford after he rejected a proposal for “perfected commonwealth.” The Statehood Act was designed to provide economic opportunity… Read more »
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