Puerto Ricans in the United States

“What surprised me is that they try to humiliate me”: Conceptualizing the role of colonial power dynamics and logics in Puerto Rican postmigration experiences.

“…Over 100 years of U.S. colonialism and citizenship have set the parameters of Puerto Rican migration to the U.S. mainland. Analyses of historical and contemporary Puerto Rican migration to the United States have primarily described this process as (a) both a mediator and consequence of the U.S. colonial political economy in Puerto Rico and (b) a method of population control in times of economic, political, and social crises (Acosta-Belén & Santiago, 2006; Grosfoguel, 2003; Meléndez, 2017; Rivera Ramos, 2001; Vélez, 2017). While U.S. colonial policies set the expulsion factors, the extension of U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans in 1917 long-established the extraction conditions (Rivera Ramos, 2001).…”

“…The modernization of Puerto Rico’s main airport was also an essential step in facilitating this movement (Meléndez, 2017). Throughout the Great Puerto Rican Migration period, agencies like the Bureau of Employment and the Travel Orientation Program throughout Puerto Rico and the United States were in charge of tracking Puerto Rican migration, encouraging assimilation, and securing labor contracts between Puerto Rican workers and U.S. companies (Acosta-Belén & Santiago, 2006; Meléndez, 2017). Additionally, because all Puerto Ricans were thought to be latent migrants, English language education intensified and became an integral part of Puerto Rico’s public education and its migration campaign (Cabán, 1989).…”

“…To underscore how Puerto Rican migration to the United States is both a product and a tool of colonial power dynamics scholars have characterized Puerto Rican movement to the United States as colonial migration (Acosta-Belén & Santiago, 2006; Vélez, 2017). From this perspective, Grosfoguel (2003) argued that the colonial power dynamics associated with this migration are also justified and maintained by colonial logics .…”

After Hurricane Maria: Effects of disaster trauma on Puerto Rican survivors on the U.S. mainland.

“…Many migrants—especially crisis migrants who often leave their home countries with little or no planning—may not possess the language skills to communicate effectively in English upon their arrival in the United States (Jiménez, 2011). Although many Puerto Ricans have at least some knowledge of English, their language ability often serves as a barrier to meaningful interactions with monolingual English speakers on the U.S. mainland (Acosta-Belén & Santiago, 2018; Capielo Rosario et al, 2019).…”

“…Nonetheless, the mass migration of Hurricane Maria survivors to Central Florida, especially the Central Florida area, may have added to the perceived threat posed by Puerto Rican migration to the area—thereby exacerbating the extent of cultural stress experienced by hurricane survivors following their arrival on the mainland (cf. Acosta-Belén & Santiago, 2018; Delerme, 2020).…”