WHEREAS:
United States citizens residing in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories are treated far less favorably than the residents of the 50 states and the District of Columbia when it comes to numerous federal programs and safety net benefits; and
WHEREAS:
In the Social Security Act, Congress excluded residents of Puerto Rico and three other territories from the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, a safety-net program that provides assistance to older, disabled or blind Americans who have very low incomes. This exclusion makes it harder for retired and disabled people who currently reside in the United States to return to Puerto Rico, and three other U.S. territories, as they would then lose their eligibility for benefits. The result is that people are unjustly prevented from retiring or living in the place they call home, where they have community ties and family support; and
WHEREAS:
Since being acquired by the United States in 1898 as a result of the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico has been marginalized by federal political choices and economic policies. While granting Puerto Ricans U.S. citizenship suggested an equality of rights and privileges, Puerto Rico’s status as a territory has resulted in a colonial-like relationship, with Puerto Ricans often treated as second-class citizens by the federal government; and
WHEREAS:
The exclusion of Puerto Rico from equal U.S. citizenship and differential treatment under the law is rooted in a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions beginning in 1901 known as the Insular Cases which, building on the reasoning of the then-recent Plessy v. Ferguson “separate but equal” doctrine, legitimized the inferior treatment of the people of the territories acquired in the Spanish-American War; and
WHEREAS:
In 2022, in U.S. v. Vaello Madero, the U.S. Supreme Court held that residents of Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories do not have a constitutional right to receive the same federal benefits the government provides to people who live in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Although concurring with this decision, Justice Neil Gorsuch called for the overturning of the “shameful” Insular Cases and their reliance on “ugly racial stereotypes” which could have affected the outcome of the case; and
WHEREAS:
While the 50 states receive open-ended federal funds for programs such as SSI, Medicaid and SNAP that can account for increases in need and costs, Puerto Rico and other territories receive only block grant funding for these programs each year. Once the fixed block grant funding is exhausted, Puerto Rico is expected to pay any remaining costs, and the block grant funding does not cover rising need or rising costs. The block grants are not enough to meet the needs of individuals who live, or want to live, in Puerto Rico — and that is by discriminatory design; and
WHEREAS:
Measured by need, this marginalization of Puerto Rican residents has a severe impact. Puerto Rico’s acute poverty level of nearly 40% is more than double the highest rate of any of the 50 states and almost four times the national poverty rate of 11%; and
WHEREAS:
Puerto Rico has suffered a devastating series of natural and man-made disasters over the past 20 years that have greatly exacerbated economic and social hardship in the territory, including an economic recession, massive outmigration, bankruptcy, hurricanes, earthquakes and the COVID pandemic; and
WHEREAS:
Policymakers should ensure that Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories have full and equitable access to all federal programs designed to support working class, low- and moderate-income families; and
WHEREAS:
Congress could correct this inequality legislatively and provide Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories with equitable access to many of the country’s foundational economic, health, security and safety net programs and funding.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will engage with Congress to pass legislation to amend the Social Security Act to include Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories as part of the “United States” when determining SSI eligibility; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will call on Congress to eliminate the inequitable limits on other federal programs providing inferior treatment to residents of Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories than to residents of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, such as SSI, Medicaid and SNAP, and allow the territories to operate these programs on the same terms so that they meet the needs of the entire population; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME calls on the Supreme Court to overturn the Insular Cases which, despite their racist foundations, remain precedent; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will continue to work on behalf of public service employees and retirees in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to eliminate the unequal treatment of residents of Puerto Rico with regard to federal safety net programs and will fight to ensure our members in Puerto Rico are able to live, work and retire on the island with dignity.
SUBMITTED BY:
Jessica Martínez Santos, President and Delegate
Lyzzette Sánchez Fonseca, Secretary and Delegate
Servidores Públicos Unidos (SPU)/AFSCME Council 95
Puerto Rico