The History of Puerto Ricans Migration to the United States

The History of Puerto Ricans Migration to the United States Immigration to the United States has been occurring for centuries now. For years people from all different parts of the globe have dreamed of living in the United States, which is known to many foreigners as the land of opportunity. There are so many ethnic groups that exist in the United States that it has become known as the melting pot of the world. The Puerto Ricans migration to the United States was not an easy process. The Puerto Ricans faced discrimination in many walks of life in the USA. They were taken advantage of because they were naive and vulnerable to this new life. Eventually, in the twentieth century, the Puerto Ricans realized that they could stand†¦show more content†¦The Puerto Ricans were viewed as dirty and the Japanese were preferred over them. Therefore they were forced to work for extremely low wages. In the article Policies of Exploitation and Racism: Puerto Ricans in Hawaii it reads of disturbing examples of the unfair treatment they received ther e. The Puerto Ricans were thought of as dirty and lost jobs to the Japanese that immigrated there because there were considered better workers and cleaner. During the time period of 1898 to 1917 the Puerto Ricans that were living in the United States were considered to be citizens of nowhere. In 1901 there was a Supreme Court decision that stated Puerto Ricans: belongs to, but is not part of America. The Americans felt as though they could just claim this land to be their own but not claim full responsibility for it. Puerto Rico at the time was inhabited by only about one million people. By the year 1917 Congress passed an act that made Puerto Ricans citizens. Even though this act stated that Puerto Ricans were citizens of the US the Puerto Ricans still did not have a place that they could truly call home from a legal standpoint. But because this law was made it formed a relationship between the mainland and the island, which led to the industrialization of Puerto Rico and eventually the mass migration to the States. Bernardo Vega was born in Puerto Rico and was a tabaquero there. He was an intelligentShow MoreRelatedThe New York City s Puerto Rican Community1421 Words   |  6 PagesOn 7 June 1969, hundreds of Puerto Ricans gathered in Spanish Harlem, New York City to protest the arrest of Juan Fi Ortiz for a series of falsified crimes.[2] As a crowd gathered outside the People s Church in El Barrio, Felipe Luciano addressed those assembled asserting that, We will not allow the brutalization of our community to go on without a response. 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