The U.S. gained control of Puerto Rico in 1898 at the end of the Spanish-American war. Shortly after gaining control, the U.S. congress passed a bill proclaiming that Puerto Rico was an unorganized territory. This means that the people in Puerto Rico were not yet U.S. citizens but did have a seat in the U.S. house. However in 1917 the Jones Act gave Puerto Ricans U.S. citizenship and has remained this way since. Even though Puerto Rico is considered a part of the U.S, the people there still can not vote. They get to help nominate the presidential candidates but do not get to vote in the decision of who the president will be. On Wednesday, September 20, a category four hurricane with winds up to 150 mph came into direct contact with Puerto Rico. The island was flooded and many people had nowhere to go. With Puerto Rico being a part of the U.S. many thought that we would be the utmost help, however this has not been the case. The confusing relationship between the U.S. government and Puerto Rico has definitely impeded recovery efforts. …show more content…
government could do to help in Puerto Rico, however this is not being done. Trump stated that “ Texas and Florida are doing great but Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure and massive debt, is in deep trouble.” The fact that Puerto Rico is in debt happens to be one of the reasons why the U.S. is not helping as much as we should be. Puerto Rico has a staggering $123 billion dollar debt. Even with this debt the U.S. should still be trying to help with maximum effort. Puerto Rico is not only part of the U.S. but there are people dying and suffering, everyone should be wanting and willing to help. Both Texas and Florida were also affected by hurricanes and received massive help in the aid to recovery. However Puerto Rico has not received the same amount of help or