Donald Trump needs to go back to school and learn a few facts.
From NYT article...
Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. The island has no electricity, and may not for months to come. Much of the water is undrinkable. About 80 percent of crop value is gone, a loss of $780 million.
More than 3.4 million people live in Puerto Rico, yet the political and popular response to the catastrophe has been far more muted than the response to the devastation in Houston from Hurricane Harvey or that in Florida from Hurricane Irma. This may be because, according to a new poll, only a slim majority of Americans realize Puerto Ricans are Americans, too.
Here are answers to some questions you might have about Puerto Rico’s place in the United States.
Are Puerto Ricans American citizens?
Yes. Under Section 302 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, people born in Puerto Rico have the same birthright American citizenship as people born in the 50 states. (Puerto Ricans born from April 11, 1899, to Jan. 13, 1941, became citizens when the act was passed.)
Can they vote in national elections?
You might think so, given that they are citizens, but on the biggest stage, the answer is no. Puerto Rico has no representation in the Electoral College, so its people cannot vote in general presidential elections unless they establish residency in one of the 50 states. It does, however, have a say in presidential nominations: Last year, Marco Rubio won the Republican primary there, and Hillary Clinton won the Democratic primary.
What is Puerto Rico’s relationship to the United States, exactly?
Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States. This is the same legal status held by the Northern Mariana Islands, and confers similar rights to those of unincorporated territories like Guam and the United States Virgin Islands.
What this means in practical terms is complicated. Most people in Puerto Rico don’t pay federal income taxes, but they do pay Social Security, Medicare, import, export and commodity taxes. Their federal tax bills add up to more than $3 billion a year.
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