What about those that don’t want statehood, like Puerto Rico?
I think we should offer automatic citizenship and cheap transportation for all citizens of US territories to the mainland, though.
I think we should offer automatic citizenship and cheap transportation for all citizens of US territories to the mainland, though.
Statehood won the last two status referenda in Puerto Rico.
I'm a Democrat and would like to see PR a state, but it's not honest to pretend that this is a cut-and-dried decision. There are benefits to the limbo PR is in right now: US citizenship without income tax and much more control over the operation of their territory than they'd have as a state.
The operative word is probably: the most recent referendums were designed to provoke the statehood option, leading to the results being ignored as not providing a clear mandate. Constant relitigation of the issue over the past decade doesn't help with apathy. It doesn't help that status quo may not be a realistic option: there's a lot of unclear legal issues with little appetite to litigate them.
I suspect that Puerto Rico will eventually become a state, but it's politically difficult for that to happen without a clear mandate, and there doesn't seem to be much appetite for providing a truly fair and clear referendum in this matter.
Lot harder to ignore them when they have 2 senators and a rep to raise hell.
The most recent referendum was held only because the federal government preferred another referendum to honoring the statehood win in the prior referendum, which had 78.19% turnout, and a two-question format where a clear majority chose not to continue territorial status and a clear majority chose statehood as the new status.
> I suspect that Puerto Rico will eventually become a state, but it's politically difficult for that to happen without a clear mandate
There was a clear mandate after the 2012 status referendum. It is difficult when a majority of Congress doesn't want it to happen for reasons for mostly partisan political reasons, and will seize on any excuse to ignore thr clear desire to end the colonial relation.
How many tickets do you want to purchase? I am collecting donations. Unless you are just talking...