Puerto Rican citizenship
Puerto Rican citizenship was first legislated by the United States Congress in Article 7 of the Foraker Act of 1900 and later recognized in the Constitution of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican citizenship existed before the U.S. takeover of the islands of Puerto Rico and continued afterwards. Its affirmative standing was also recognized before and after the creation of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 1952. Puerto Rican citizenship was recognized by the United States Congress in the early twentieth century and continues unchanged after the creation of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The United States government also continues to recognize a Puerto Rican nationality. Puerto Rican citizenship was once also recognized by the Spanish Government, which recognized Puerto Ricans as a people with Puerto Rican, and not American citizenship. It also at one time granted Spanish citizenship to Puerto Ricans on the basis of their Puerto Rican (and not American) citizenship.
Puerto Rico Democracy Act
Puerto Rico is a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean Sea, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands. It was ceded to the United States as part of the Treaty of Paris during the Spanish–American War. In 1952, the U.S. Congress ratified the Constitution of Puerto Rico, proclaiming Puerto Rico as an insular commonwealth. However, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has territorial status subject to United States congressional authority under the Territorial Clause of the U.S. Constitution, "to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory belonging to the United States." This has been subject of ongoing debate in Puerto Rico, the United States, and the United Nations. Three plebiscites have been held in recent decades to resolve the political status but no changes have been attained.