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| The '''political status of Puerto Rico''' is that of an [[Unincorporated territories of the United States|unincorporated territory of the United States]] officially known as the '''Commonwealth of Puerto Rico''' ({{lang-es|Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico|lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico}}). As such, the island of [[Puerto Rico]] is neither a [[sovereign state|sovereign nation]] nor a [[U.S. state]]. | The '''political status of Puerto Rico''' is that of an [[Unincorporated territories of the United States|unincorporated territory of the United States]] officially known as the '''Commonwealth of Puerto Rico''' ({{lang-es|Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico|lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico}}). As such, the island of [[Puerto Rico]] is neither a [[sovereign state|sovereign nation]] nor a [[U.S. state]]. |
| As a territory, the [[U.S. Constitution]] does not apply directly or uniformly in Puerto Rico in the same way it does in the U.S. states. It enjoys various "fundamental rights" of U.S. citizenship, but lacks certain others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Puerto Rico and the U.S. Constitution |date=October 13, 2017 |url=https://www.pr51st.com/puerto-rico-and-the-u-s-constitution/ |access-date=May 2, 2024 |website=www.pr51st.com}}</ref> For instance, in contrast to U.S. states, Puerto Rico residents cannot vote in [[U.S. presidential elections]], nor can they elect their own senators and representatives to the [[U.S. Congress]]. On the other hand, and in contrast to U.S. states, only some residents of Puerto Rico are subject to [[federal income tax]]es.{{efn|name=fn1|Contrary to common misconception, residents of Puerto Rico do pay U.S. federal taxes: customs taxes (some of which (see note about rum taxes below) are subsequently returned to the Puerto Rico Treasury),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/prpage.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120610225702/http://www.doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/prpage.htm |url-status=dead |title=Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs |archive-date=June 10, 2012}}</ref> import/export taxes,<ref name="stanford.wellsphere.com">{{cite web |url=http://stanford.wellsphere.com/healthcare-industry-policy-article/puerto-rico/267827 |title=Puerto Rico |work=wellsphere.com |access-date=22 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/2010040...re-industry-policy-article/puerto-rico/267827 |archive-date=April 1, 2010}}</ref> and federal commodity taxes.<ref name="stanford.wellsphere.com"/><ref name="irs.gov">{{cite web |url=https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc903.html |title=Tax Topics – Topic 903 Federal Employment Tax in Puerto Rico |work=irs.gov |access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref> Residents pay federal [[payroll tax]]es, such as [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]]<ref name="irs.gov"/> and [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE58N5X320090924 |title=Puerto Rico hopes to gain from U.S. healthcare reform |publisher=[[Reuters]] |date=24 September 2009 |access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref> as well as Commonwealth of Puerto Rico income taxes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/2003/vol7n19/USNotInnocent-en.html |title=U.S. Is Not Innocent Of Colonization... Puerto Ricans Pay Up, Too... No They Don't |work=Puerto Rico Herald |access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.htrcpa.com/businessinpr1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429222842/http://www.htrcpa.com/businessinpr1.html |url-status=dead |title=Doing Business in Puerto Rico |archive-date=April 29, 2011}}</ref> All federal employees,<ref name="heritage.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.heritage.org/research/taxes/wm2338.cfm |title=D.C. Voting Rights: No Representation? No Taxation! |work=The Heritage Foundation |access-date=22 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210124900/http://www.heritage.org/Research/Taxes/wm2338.cfm |archive-date=February 10, 2010}}</ref> those who do business with the federal government,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mcvpr.com/CM/CurrentEvents/CEOsummitarticle.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/2007102...vpr.com/CM/CurrentEvents/CEOsummitarticle.pdf |url-status=dead |title=Federal and Local Incentives {{!}} Where We Are, Where We Want To Be {{!}} If We Just Had A Crystal Ball ... |archive-date=October 26, 2007}}</ref> Puerto Rico-based corporations that intend to send funds to the U.S.,{{sfn|JCT|2006|p=9}} and some others (for example, Puerto Rican residents that are members of the U.S. military;<ref name="heritage.org"/> and Puerto Rico residents who earned income from sources outside Puerto Rico){{sfn|JCT|2006|pp=14–15}} also pay federal income taxes. In addition, because the cutoff point for income taxation is lower than that of the U.S. IRS code, and because the per capita income in Puerto Rico is much lower than the average per capita income on the mainland, more Puerto Rico residents pay income taxes to the local taxation authority than if the IRS code were applied to the island. This occurs because "the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico government has a wider set of responsibilities than do U.S. State and local governments".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-541 |title=U.S. GAO – Puerto Rico: Fiscal Relations with the Federal Government and Economic Trends during the Phaseout of the Possessions Tax Credit |work=gao.gov |access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref> As residents of Puerto Rico pay into Social Security, Puerto Ricans are eligible for Social Security benefits upon retirement, but are excluded from the [[Supplemental Security Income]] (SSI); Commonwealth of Puerto Rico residents, unlike residents of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and residents of the 50 States, do not receive the SSI.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.21/handbook-2114.html |title=SSA Handbook § 2114 |work=socialsecurity.gov |access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref> The island receives less than 15% of the [[Medicaid]] funding it would normally receive if it were a U.S. state. Also, Medicare providers receive less-than-full state-like reimbursements for services rendered to beneficiaries in Puerto Rico, even though the latter paid fully into the system.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.prfaa.com/news/?p=252 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511054048/http://www.prfaa.com/news/?p=252 |url-status=dead |title=Island Parity Puerto Rico needs full payments from federal programs |archive-date=May 11, 2011}}</ref> Additionally, it has been estimated that, because the population of the island is greater than that of 50% of the States, if it were a state, Puerto Rico would have six to eight seats in the House, in addition to the two seats in the Senate.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eagleforum.org/column/2007/mar07/07-03-28.html |title=Deceitful Tactics Used To Make Puerto Rico A State |work=eagleforum.org |access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-17-4-c.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/2009061...org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-17-4-c.html |url-status=dead|title=BRIA 17 4 C Puerto Rico: Commonwealth, Statehood, Or Independence? |archive-date=June 10, 2009}}</ref><ref name="House Report 110-597">{{cite web |url=http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/?&sid=cp1109rs5H&refer=&r_n=hr597.110|title=Committee Reports, 110th Congress (2007-2008), House Report 110-597, Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2007 |website=thomas.gov |access-date=22 February 2005}} (Note that for the official U.S. Congress database website, you will need to resubmit a query. The document in question is called "House Report 110-597 – Puerto Rico Democracy Act of." These are the steps to follow: http://www.thomas.gov > Committee Reports > 110 > drop down "Word/Phrase" and pick "Report Number" > type "597" next to Report Number. This will provide the document "House Report 110-597 – Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2007", then from the Table of Contents choose "Background and Need for Legislation".)</ref> Another misconception is that the import/export taxes collected by the U.S. on products manufactured in Puerto Rico are all returned to the Puerto Rico Treasury. This is not the case. Such import/export taxes are returned ''only'' for rum products, and even then the U.S. Treasury keeps a portion of those taxes.<ref name="House Report 110-597"/>}} The political status of the island thus illustrates how different Puerto Rico is, politically, from sovereign nations and from U.S. states. | The [[U.S. Constitution]] does not apply directly or uniformly in U.S. territories in the same way it does in the U.S. states. As a territory, Puerto Rico enjoys various "fundamental rights" of U.S. citizenship, but lacks certain others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Puerto Rico and the U.S. Constitution |date=October 13, 2017 |url=https://www.pr51st.com/puerto-rico-and-the-u-s-constitution/ |access-date=May 2, 2024 |website=www.pr51st.com}}</ref> For instance, in contrast to U.S. states, Puerto Rico residents cannot vote in [[U.S. presidential elections]], nor can they elect their own senators and representatives to the [[U.S. Congress]]. On the other hand, and in contrast to U.S. states, only some residents of Puerto Rico are subject to [[federal income tax]]es.{{efn|name=fn1|Contrary to common misconception, residents of Puerto Rico do pay U.S. federal taxes: customs taxes (some of which (see note about rum taxes below) are subsequently returned to the Puerto Rico Treasury),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/prpage.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120610225702/http://www.doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/prpage.htm |url-status=dead |title=Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs |archive-date=June 10, 2012}}</ref> import/export taxes,<ref name="stanford.wellsphere.com">{{cite web |url=http://stanford.wellsphere.com/healthcare-industry-policy-article/puerto-rico/267827 |title=Puerto Rico |work=wellsphere.com |access-date=22 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/2010040...re-industry-policy-article/puerto-rico/267827 |archive-date=April 1, 2010}}</ref> and federal commodity taxes.<ref name="stanford.wellsphere.com"/><ref name="irs.gov">{{cite web |url=https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc903.html |title=Tax Topics – Topic 903 Federal Employment Tax in Puerto Rico |work=irs.gov |access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref> Residents pay federal [[payroll tax]]es, such as [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]]<ref name="irs.gov"/> and [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE58N5X320090924 |title=Puerto Rico hopes to gain from U.S. healthcare reform |publisher=[[Reuters]] |date=24 September 2009 |access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref> as well as Commonwealth of Puerto Rico income taxes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/2003/vol7n19/USNotInnocent-en.html |title=U.S. Is Not Innocent Of Colonization... Puerto Ricans Pay Up, Too... No They Don't |work=Puerto Rico Herald |access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.htrcpa.com/businessinpr1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429222842/http://www.htrcpa.com/businessinpr1.html |url-status=dead |title=Doing Business in Puerto Rico |archive-date=April 29, 2011}}</ref> All federal employees,<ref name="heritage.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.heritage.org/research/taxes/wm2338.cfm |title=D.C. Voting Rights: No Representation? No Taxation! |work=The Heritage Foundation |access-date=22 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210124900/http://www.heritage.org/Research/Taxes/wm2338.cfm |archive-date=February 10, 2010}}</ref> those who do business with the federal government,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mcvpr.com/CM/CurrentEvents/CEOsummitarticle.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/2007102...vpr.com/CM/CurrentEvents/CEOsummitarticle.pdf |url-status=dead |title=Federal and Local Incentives {{!}} Where We Are, Where We Want To Be {{!}} If We Just Had A Crystal Ball ... |archive-date=October 26, 2007}}</ref> Puerto Rico-based corporations that intend to send funds to the U.S.,{{sfn|JCT|2006|p=9}} and some others (for example, Puerto Rican residents that are members of the U.S. military;<ref name="heritage.org"/> and Puerto Rico residents who earned income from sources outside Puerto Rico){{sfn|JCT|2006|pp=14–15}} also pay federal income taxes. In addition, because the cutoff point for income taxation is lower than that of the U.S. IRS code, and because the per capita income in Puerto Rico is much lower than the average per capita income on the mainland, more Puerto Rico residents pay income taxes to the local taxation authority than if the IRS code were applied to the island. This occurs because "the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico government has a wider set of responsibilities than do U.S. State and local governments".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-541 |title=U.S. GAO – Puerto Rico: Fiscal Relations with the Federal Government and Economic Trends during the Phaseout of the Possessions Tax Credit |work=gao.gov |access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref> As residents of Puerto Rico pay into Social Security, Puerto Ricans are eligible for Social Security benefits upon retirement, but are excluded from the [[Supplemental Security Income]] (SSI); Commonwealth of Puerto Rico residents, unlike residents of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and residents of the 50 States, do not receive the SSI.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.21/handbook-2114.html |title=SSA Handbook § 2114 |work=socialsecurity.gov |access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref> The island receives less than 15% of the [[Medicaid]] funding it would normally receive if it were a U.S. state. Also, Medicare providers receive less-than-full state-like reimbursements for services rendered to beneficiaries in Puerto Rico, even though the latter paid fully into the system.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.prfaa.com/news/?p=252 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511054048/http://www.prfaa.com/news/?p=252 |url-status=dead |title=Island Parity Puerto Rico needs full payments from federal programs |archive-date=May 11, 2011}}</ref> Additionally, it has been estimated that, because the population of the island is greater than that of 50% of the States, if it were a state, Puerto Rico would have six to eight seats in the House, in addition to the two seats in the Senate.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eagleforum.org/column/2007/mar07/07-03-28.html |title=Deceitful Tactics Used To Make Puerto Rico A State |work=eagleforum.org |access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-17-4-c.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/2009061...org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-17-4-c.html |url-status=dead|title=BRIA 17 4 C Puerto Rico: Commonwealth, Statehood, Or Independence? |archive-date=June 10, 2009}}</ref><ref name="House Report 110-597">{{cite web |url=http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/?&sid=cp1109rs5H&refer=&r_n=hr597.110|title=Committee Reports, 110th Congress (2007-2008), House Report 110-597, Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2007 |website=thomas.gov |access-date=22 February 2005}} (Note that for the official U.S. Congress database website, you will need to resubmit a query. The document in question is called "House Report 110-597 – Puerto Rico Democracy Act of." These are the steps to follow: http://www.thomas.gov > Committee Reports > 110 > drop down "Word/Phrase" and pick "Report Number" > type "597" next to Report Number. This will provide the document "House Report 110-597 – Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2007", then from the Table of Contents choose "Background and Need for Legislation".)</ref> Another misconception is that the import/export taxes collected by the U.S. on products manufactured in Puerto Rico are all returned to the Puerto Rico Treasury. This is not the case. Such import/export taxes are returned ''only'' for rum products, and even then the U.S. Treasury keeps a portion of those taxes.<ref name="House Report 110-597"/>}} The political status of the island thus illustrates how different Puerto Rico is, politically, from sovereign nations and from U.S. states. |
| The status of the island is the result of various political activities within both the [[United States Government|United States]] and [[Government of Puerto Rico|Puerto Rican governments]]. The United Nations removed it from the list of [[United Nations list of non-self-governing territories|non-self-governing territories]] in 1953,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://daccess-ods.un.org/TMP/3021239.93635178.html|title=Cessation of the transmission of information under Article 73 e of the Charter in Respect of Puerto Rico}}</ref> but it remains subject to [[Territorial Clause|the Territorial Clause of the U.S. Constitution]]. According to the [[Insular Cases]], Puerto Rico is "a territory [[appurtenant]] and belonging to the United States, but not a part of the United States within the revenue clauses of the Constitution".<ref>''Downes v. Bidwell'', 182 U.S. 244, 287 (1901); ''Balzac v. Porto Rico'', 258 U.S. 298 (1922).</ref>{{efn|In November 2008 a [[Federal judiciary of the United States|U.S. federal district court judge]] ruled that a sequence of prior Congressional actions had had the cumulative effect of changing Puerto Rico's status to incorporated.<ref>[http://docs.justia.com/cases/federa...e/3:2006cv01260/58204/155/0.pdf?ts=1271110572 Consejo de Salud Playa Ponce v. Johnny Rullan], p.28: "The Congressional incorporation of Puerto Rico throughout the past century has extended the entire Constitution to the island".</ref> However, as of April 2011 the issue had not yet made its way through the courts:.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Hon. Gustavo A. Gelpi|title=The Insular Cases: A Comparative Historical Study of Puerto Rico, Hawai'i, and the Philippines|journal=The Federal Lawyer|issue=March/April|year=2011|url=http://www.aspira.org/files/legal_opinion_on_pr_insular_cases.pdf|access-date=2011-08-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/2011042...g/files/legal_opinion_on_pr_insular_cases.pdf |archive-date=April 27, 2011 |page=25|quote=In light of the [Supreme Court] ruling in ''Boumediene'', in the future the Supreme Court will be called upon to reexamine the Insular Cases doctrine as applied to Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories.}}</ref> As of August 2021, the U.S. government still considered Puerto Rico as unincorporated.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.doi.gov/oia/islands/politicatypes|title=Definitions of Insular Area Political Organizations|date=June 12, 2015|accessdate=August 6, 2021|publisher=[[Office of Insular Affairs]] of the [[United States Department of the Interior|U.S. Department of the Interior]]|quote=[...] [a]n unincorporated United States insular area, of which there are currently thirteen, three in the Caribbean (Navassa Island, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands) and ten in the Pacific (American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, the Northern Mariana Islands and Wake Atoll).}}</ref>}} | The status of the island is the result of various political activities within both the [[United States Government|United States]] and [[Government of Puerto Rico|Puerto Rican governments]]. The United Nations removed it from the list of [[United Nations list of non-self-governing territories|non-self-governing territories]] in 1953,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://daccess-ods.un.org/TMP/3021239.93635178.html|title=Cessation of the transmission of information under Article 73 e of the Charter in Respect of Puerto Rico}}</ref> but it remains subject to [[Territorial Clause|the Territorial Clause of the U.S. Constitution]]. According to the [[Insular Cases]], Puerto Rico is "a territory [[appurtenant]] and belonging to the United States, but not a part of the United States within the revenue clauses of the Constitution".<ref>''Downes v. Bidwell'', 182 U.S. 244, 287 (1901); ''Balzac v. Porto Rico'', 258 U.S. 298 (1922).</ref>{{efn|In November 2008 a [[Federal judiciary of the United States|U.S. federal district court judge]] ruled that a sequence of prior Congressional actions had had the cumulative effect of changing Puerto Rico's status to incorporated.<ref>[http://docs.justia.com/cases/federa...e/3:2006cv01260/58204/155/0.pdf?ts=1271110572 Consejo de Salud Playa Ponce v. Johnny Rullan], p.28: "The Congressional incorporation of Puerto Rico throughout the past century has extended the entire Constitution to the island".</ref> However, as of April 2011 the issue had not yet made its way through the courts:.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Hon. Gustavo A. Gelpi|title=The Insular Cases: A Comparative Historical Study of Puerto Rico, Hawai'i, and the Philippines|journal=The Federal Lawyer|issue=March/April|year=2011|url=http://www.aspira.org/files/legal_opinion_on_pr_insular_cases.pdf|access-date=2011-08-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/2011042...g/files/legal_opinion_on_pr_insular_cases.pdf |archive-date=April 27, 2011 |page=25|quote=In light of the [Supreme Court] ruling in ''Boumediene'', in the future the Supreme Court will be called upon to reexamine the Insular Cases doctrine as applied to Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories.}}</ref> As of August 2021, the U.S. government still considered Puerto Rico as unincorporated.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.doi.gov/oia/islands/politicatypes|title=Definitions of Insular Area Political Organizations|date=June 12, 2015|accessdate=August 6, 2021|publisher=[[Office of Insular Affairs]] of the [[United States Department of the Interior|U.S. Department of the Interior]]|quote=[...] [a]n unincorporated United States insular area, of which there are currently thirteen, three in the Caribbean (Navassa Island, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands) and ten in the Pacific (American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, the Northern Mariana Islands and Wake Atoll).}}</ref>}} |
Okumaya devam et...