Fortuño to PJM: Puerto Rico Statehood Before Immigration Reform

Fortuño to PJM: Puerto Rico Statehood Before Immigration Reform

 http://pjmedia.com/

WASHINGTON — Former Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuño said Congress and President Obama should make Puerto Rico a state before any immigration bill is signed into law.

“In the case of the Puerto Rican citizens that reside in Puerto Rico, you are dealing with American citizens, natural-born American citizens, so if you’re ever going to deal with illegal immigrants, which is, I’m not saying you should never deal with the issue, but shouldn’t you first deal with your own?” Fortuño told PJ Media after an event on Tuesday evening at George Washington University on Puerto Rico’s economy.

“That’s essentially the question you are asking, and I think it’s a very good question – and indeed I believe this matter requires and demands leadership stemming from Washington to be addressed as soon as possible,” he added.

Fortuño, a Republican, pointed out that Puerto Ricans are able to join the U.S. military but cannot choose their commander in chief in the presidential election.

“It’s morally wrong and it has to be addressed and it has to be resolved one way or another,” he said.

The territory also has a representative in Congress who cannot vote. Puerto Ricans currently pay Social Security and Medicare taxes but not federal income taxes. Puerto Ricans do not qualify for select federal programs but Fortuño stressed they are not looking for a “free lunch.”

“Most importantly, it’s not programs. It’s the right to elect those that are going to make decisions on your behalf. We only have one non-voting congressional member. It makes no sense,” he said, explaining the benefits of statehood.

In 2008, Fortuño was chosen as the first Republican elected governor of Puerto Rico since 1969. He previously served as Puerto Rico’s non-voting member of Congress. Fortuño endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election and was floated as a potential vice presidential candidate. He lost his re-election bid to Democratic Gov.-elect Alejandro Garcia Padilla in 2012.

In a November 2012 two-part nonbinding referendum, a majority of Puerto Ricans, 54 percent, voted against preserving the territory’s present status. In the second part, 61 percent voted for statehood as an alternative to the current status.

Contrary to what some may believe, Fortuño said making Puerto Rico a state would not require a constitutional amendment.

Flying Pig

«Former Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuño said Congress and President Obama should make Puerto Rico a state before any immigration bill is signed into law.»

Forget it. The Dems already own the votes of Puerto Ricans; they are mining for votes of the new «future citizens» streaming across our southern border. Maybe when all the illegals are safely voting «D», then the Democrats will look to secure two more Senators from PR.
10 hours ago Like (0) Link To Comment

Charles R. Williams
Why should I want Puerto Rico as the 51st state? If they wanted to be an independent nation, I wouldn’t think twice about wishing them well.
19 hours ago Like (0) Link To Comment

Catino
If you are or you know a veteran, ask them about the men and women from PR that served in our Armed forces since WWI. Some of them served voluntarily. At least in consideration of their sacrifice one should inform oneself about their history and how they got to be where they are now. I am not saying that they should be a state or not. I am saying that one good trait of the American character is Christian gratefulness. We are receiving Arabs and other Muslims and roll the red carpet for them. May be we should consider all of those who were never a threat to us, on the contrary they share the dangers of the battlefield with us. Many of the GI’s parachuting over Nazi Europe were from Puerto Rico. Many are buried there as a witness of their fidelity to our laws. There must be a way to deal with this problem without talking or behaving like a cad.
10 hours ago Like (0) Link To Comment

blackelkspeaks
There is absolutely no reason on earth why Puerto Rico is not already as successful and wealthy as Hong Kong, except the asininity of the Puerto Rican people. They already have every possible economic and political advantage, being in the sphere of American influence and stateside markets. Yet they, like every other siesta/manana culture we see south of the border, choose indolence and welfarism instead of pursuing free market capitalism. You can’t fix stupid. And we’re pretty asinine, too, given that we are bound and determined to allow an unfettered illegal alien invasion of such people to kill our own goose that lays golden eggs.
21 hours ago Like (0) Link To Comment

Catino
Although I agree with your evaluation I think most of us are thinking this wrong. The world around us is changing and nor the US –neither any other country– will be able to stay «pure» and border-strong much longer. People are moving, traveling, doing business, getting married across borders more and more. No one can change that trend. One thing we have to decide now is who is going to be the adult in this country. We have to start listening to the wisdom of our founding fathers. The Liberalism dominating both American parties did not come from Peoria, it came from abroad like the fatal diseases that wiped out American aboriginal people after 1492. We are lucky that Liberalism is not a physical disease (yet) so, the first step should be to return to the roots of American order by educating our current citizenry about that. In second place we should make plans to peacefully instill American ideas south of the border and in the Caribbean basin –Cuba may have to be recovered– Although Latin America inherited Spain’s political and social corruption, one has to admit that there are virtues among those peoples as well, virtues that have allowed many of them to join the American project and thrive in the US. They worked alongside us and fought alongside us in our wars. Our cousins south of the border have to be evangelized with American ideas. We failed to do that in the 1800’s and then the leftists of the world took advantage of the opportunity: today one of every four youngsters in Latin America will be a Marxist Atheist by age 20. Radical Muslims are already recruiting openly in Chiapas, not too far from the American border. We must clean our act first and then engage those peoples. Hollywood and American Liberals have been able to teach them all kinds of vices… may be the wise among us can help them learn republican virtues. Puerto Rico is a good place to start but I insist we have to clean house first. Liberalism has to be soundly defeated, in fact eradicated from the 50 (57 for you Barry) states before we can decide something as important as PR statehood.

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21 hours ago Like (2) Link To Comment

Doomsday
No. Don’t even think about it. We do not need another state. We don’t need another few hundred thousand citizens. Forget about it. No. Let’s finish absorbing Mexico’s castoffs first, shall we? So, NO!
22 hours ago Like (1) Link To Comment

Guatestitcher
Puerto Rico is part of the US. Puerto Ricans are citizens! They just are not a state.
15 hours ago Like (0) Link To Comment

Paleo Conservative
How about we wean PR off the government teat? We don’t need another 2 blood sucking senators and god only knows how many more representatives at the trough. While we’re at it how about cutting loose NY and Cali while we’re at it?

23 hours ago Like (1) Link To Comment

M. Report
The US does not need any more overseas states to (try to) defend;
Hawaii is vulnerable and even Alaska is not really safe; No Mas.
1 day ago Like (0) Link To Comment

Jacquejet
I lived there in the mid 60’s. My dad worked for the AF at Ramey AFB and I was in jr high and high school there.
It was a third world country then. Wealthy, middle class and abject poverty all interspersed.
Right now, the Commonwealth status PR has is one of the few reasons big business locate there. There are tremendous tax advantages under that status that would disappear should they become a state. No advantage, no big business.
The main reason Democrats here push for statehood is 2 Senators and 1 Representative in congress that will be a reliable Democrat vote in Washington.
Just say No!
1 day ago Like (0) Link To Comment

FasterBlue
Puerto Rico doesn’t want to be a state.IIRC, they held a referendum during the Clinton administration. Luis Fortuño just wants to be a Senator. Can’t really blame him. Dirty Harry was pretty much broke when he first got elected to the Senate. Now he is a mega-millionaire. A Billionaire by the time he retires. Politica can pay really well.
Louis, however, is talking to the wrong end of the horse.
1 day ago Like (0) Link To Comment

DCE
Yes, they did 20-some years ago. But if you’d read the article in its entirety you would have seen that a similar referendum in 2012 with 61 percent of the voters in Puerto Rico preferring statehood.
2 hours ago Like (0) Link To Comment

LarryGE
We don’t want Puerto Rico. Let them go «free» and be an independent whatever-they-wanna-be.

Clinton tried to get Puerto Rico into the Union by vote of Puerto Ricans — no input from Americans was requested. This is one of the schemes conniving lefties try time after time — like elevating the city of Washington, D.C. into a state. It’s a conspiracy against the American people.
.
1 day ago Like (0) Link To Comment

Patrick of Atlantis
Puerto Rico statehood is a terrible idea. Why would they want it? Why would we want it? It’s irrational no matter where one stands. Puerto Ricans should want independence, not the tyranny that modern statehood offers. And Americans should want less low information voters, not more.
1 day ago Like (0) Link To Comment