The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Releases Initial Review of Puerto Rico

• voting rights and lack of political representation
• racial and national discrimination
• access to federal public programs

The document reviewed the history of Puerto Rico and the United States, from the Island’s acquisition from Spain to the Insular Cases, which established the idea of unincorporated territories where the U.S. Constitution did not fully apply.

“This doctrine changed the trajectory of the territories because, prior to the Insular Cases, all the territories had followed a process towards statehood, and being a territory was considered a transitory status,” says the report. “It also allowed the United States to have control over the territory without establishing a path towards statehood in the future. There is no text within the United States Constitution that supports the doctrine, and it is predicated on an ethnic and racial distinction that Puerto Ricans are political subjects who do not deserve the full protection of rights in the Constitution.”

Preliminary findings

After providing an historical overview, the committee presented a series of preliminary findings:

• There is a colonial relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States.
• Puerto Rico has lived under unequal and discriminatory treatment by the United States government.
• The Supreme Court is not the ideal vehicle through which to solve the problems caused by the Non-Incorporation Doctrine.
• There are contradictions in the U.S. citizenship of residents of Puerto Rico.
• Puerto Rico’s status as an unincorporated territory has led to limited access to social welfare programs.
• Limitations on access to public programs have had effects on certain social groups, including older adults, veterans, and families with minors.
• Discrimination and differential treatment have directly affected the quality of life of the residents of Puerto Rico and have caused an increase in displacement from the island.

Recommendations from panelists

The Committee reiterated that they will present their recommendations later, but they wanted to include the recommendations by the expert panelists.

• The panelists were firm on the idea that Congress, not the courts, would have to take action to improve the situation for Puerto Rico.
• Some panelists favored approaching the issues through international law, saying that “Puerto Rico should not be considered an internal issue of the United States but rather as a nation that has been occupied for more than 125 years, whose access to international law has been violated, and can only move forward through decolonization and independence.”
• Other panelists asked the Committee to focus on the Puerto Rico Status Act, currently under consideration in both the Senate and the House. “For Puerto Rico to have an opportunity to definitively address its civil rights and the civil rights of American citizens in Puerto Rico, Congress must pass legislation to offer Puerto Rico the opportunity to decide between options that are not territorial,” said George Laws Garcia of the Puerto Rico Statehood Council. “That would be the most important recommendation I think this Committee can make for the Commission.”
• While most panelists, including Rep. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon (R-PR), warned that revoking the Insular Cases would not solve the problems of inequity for Puerto Rico, eliminating the Insular Cases appealed to the Committee. “Calling for the revocation of the Insular Cases could be an important action taken by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights that would promote recognition towards equality for Puerto Rico,” they said.
• Statehood was also presented as a solution. The committee listed the non-territorial status options but also acknowledged that “statehood is the only one that offers equal treatment and the right to vote.”