Lake Zurich High School Student Media

Bear Facts

Lake Zurich High School Student Media

Bear Facts

Lake Zurich High School Student Media

Bear Facts

Puerto Rico should not gain statehood

Puerto+Rico+should+not+gain+statehood

The island of Puerto Rico has been a United States territory for 114 years. In a recent election, however, 54 percent of Puerto Ricans voted to change their relationship with the U.S. However, America has too many problems of its own to take on Puerto Rico as the 51st state.

Puerto Ricans have been official U.S. citizens since 1917. They are pushing for statehood because they currently cannot vote in the U.S. presidential election. They also have no representation in the Senate and limited representation in the House of Representatives.

 “It’s a misleading impression. The referendum consisted of two questions. First, it asked voters if they wanted to keep their current U.S. commonwealth status. Dissatisfaction emerged victorious with 52 percent of the vote,” according to an article by CNN. “The referendum then asked if voters wanted to become a U.S. state, an independent country, or a freely associated state — a type of independence in close alliance with the United States. Some 61 percent of those who answered the second question chose statehood,”

Only 61 percent of the 52 percent of voters who were unhappy with Puerto Rico’s commonwealth status actually pushed for statehood. Even so, the decision of whether or not statehood is a possibility should be made by America’s government, not Puerto Rico’s.

If Puerto Rico becomes a state, it will gain five representatives in the House of Representatives because of its large population. These representatives would have to come from another state, so some current U.S. states would have less representation. Current U.S. states should not need to lose representation because of the addition of a territory into the Union.

            Some people are for statehood because Puerto Rico would no longer be exempt from federal estate tax. However, Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate is currently at 13.8 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website. This is 2.3 percent higher than Nevada, the U.S. state with the highest unemployment rate. America needs to be creating jobs for its current states before it can worry about consoling Puerto Rico.

            “We would get some money from being able to impose more taxes on Puerto Rico,” Libby Reimann, global issues teacher, said. “Because of their employment rate, however, they might be able to receive more in entitlements than they’re paying in taxes.”

            America has enough financial problems as it is. The nation cannot afford to assimilate a state with such a high unemployment rate. America needs to focus on fixing the problems its current states before adding another.

            Not all Puerto Ricans want to change their status with the U.S. Many native Puerto Ricans are against statehood because they believe their culture would be lost. Less than 20 percent of Puerto Ricans speak fluent English, according to CNN. 82.1 percent of Americans speak English as their first language, according to the CIA World Factbook website. This would make life difficult if they were to become part of the U.S. As a U.S. state, Puerto Rico would no longer have its own Olympic team or contestant in the Miss Universe Pageant.

            Statehood is overall unlikely for Puerto Rico. Given that Congress is almost always divided, America will not be adding any new stars to the flag any time soon, nor should it.

 

Leave a Comment

Comments (0)

Comments will not be published until approved by the Bear Facts Student Media Staff
All Bear Facts Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *