Puerto Rican citizenship
In 1952, upon U.S. Congress approving the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, also reaffirmed that Puerto Rican citizenship continued in full force. This was further reaffirmed in 2006 while the U.S. Senate probed into the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's status. In 1953, U.S Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., in a memorandum sent to the United Nations, recognized that "the people of Puerto Rico continue to be citizens of the United States as well as of Puerto Rico."
Puerto Ricans in World War II
Puerto Rico was annexed by the United States in accordance to the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898, ratified on December 10, 1898, as consequence of the Spanish–American War. U.S. Citizenship was imposed upon Puerto Ricans as a result of the 1917 Jones-Shafroth Act (the Puerto Rican House of Delegates rejected US citizenship) and were expected to serve in the military. When an Imperial Japanese Navy carrier fleet launched an unexpected attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Puerto Ricans were required to bear arms in defense of the United States. During World War II, it is estimated by the Department of Defense that 65,034 Puerto Ricans served in the U.S. military. Most of the soldiers from the island served in either the 65th Infantry Regiment or the Puerto Rico National Guard. As the induction of Puerto Ricans into the armed forces increased many were assigned to units in the Panama Canal Zone and the British West Indies to replace the continental troops serving in regular Army units. Those who resided in the mainland of the United States were assigned to regular units of the military. They were often subject to the racial discrimination that was widespread in the United States at the time.