It looks like her description has oscillated between "an American politician", "a Puerto Rican politician", and "a Puerto Rican-American politician" over the last year or so. I just reverted to "American". Clearly "Puerto Rican-American" makes no more sense than "New Yorker-American"; Puerto Ricans are American. Every other politician I've looked at (Ted Cruz, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Al Green (politician), Justin Trudeau, Boris Johnson) describes them using the national demonym ("American", "Canadian", "British"), not the sub-jurisdiction demonym ("Texan", "New Yorker", "Quebecer", "English"). I don't see why Puerto Rican should be any different, so I think "American" is better than "Puerto Rican". The lede describes her as Puerto Rican in the fourth (and last) sentence, which seems appropriate. —Alex (Ashill | talk | contribs) 21:33, 23 July 2020 (UTC)Reply
- Please permit me to give you a lesson on an important fact that most people do not know. People born in Puerto Rico automatically have dual nationality: Puerto Rican and American. Puerto Rico follows the Jus soli law (the right of the soil or the land) meaning that one’s nationality is determined by the place of one's birth.
Therefore, Velázquez is Puerto Rican and American due to the fact that she was born in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico.
History of Puerto Rican Nationality
On October 25, 2006, the Puerto Rican State Department declared the existence of the Puerto Rican nationality (see: Juan Mari Bras). Puerto Rican nationality was recognized by the United States in 1898 after Spain ceded the island to the United States as a result of the Spanish-American War. On April 12, 1900, the Congress of the United States enacted the Foraker Act of 1900. Section VII of this act created a Puerto Rican citizenship for the residents "born in Puerto Rico and, therefore, subject to its jurisdiction".[1] In 1917, the United States granted Puerto Ricans U.S. citizenship without the requirement that the islanders renounce their PR citizenship. Since then, everyone born in Puerto Rico are both Puerto Rican and U.S. citizens. However, in Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican do not enjoy full U.S. citizenship rights because their rights as such are limited (For example: they can not vote in the Presidential elections). The "American" citizenship which the Puerto Ricans have is limited and can be revoked any time unless the Congress of the U.S. makes an amendment to the U. S. Constitution. Puerto Ricans do not need to renounce either of the citizenships and do not need a passport to go to the continental United States and once there can participate in every activity as every other U.S. citizen.[2][3] According to the United States Supreme Court, Puerto Rico belongs to but is not part of the United States.[4]
There is a common misconception that all Puerto Ricans are of Hispanic background. The confusion stems from people automatically associating the term 'Puerto Rican' (nationality) with the term 'Hispanic' (ethnicity). Even though the primary ethnicity in Puerto Rico is Hispanic,[5] there are numerous other ethnic groups which make up the Puerto Rican nationality. There are many Puerto Ricans of African, Corsican, French, Irish, German, Chinese, Dutch, Lebanese and of Jewish descent, among others.[6]
Laws Concerning Citizenship/Nationality
The modern world is divided up into nations with each nation, at least nominally, exercising control over its own territory and the people who reside within that territory. Among modern nations, citizenship at birth is conveyed in one of two ways; either though Jus soli (the right of the soil or the land) meaning that one’s nationality is determined by the place of one's birth; or through jus sanguinis (the right of blood) where nationality is determined by the nationality of one's descent (parents). Birthright citizenship is the term used for Jus soli as it is applied under US law. [7]
Tony the Marine (talk) 23:35, 23 July 2020 (UTC)Reply
