Puerto Ricans and US Immigration

The people of Puerto Rico have a unique history in the US immigration. Indeed, Puerto Rico has a special, if not distinct place in the civil society of the American nation. Puerto Rico has been owned by the US for over a century. However, it has not ever acquired a state status. Puerto Ricans have been part of the US population for over a century. Puerto Ricans do not have a vote in the US congress. Puerto Ricans can move freely throughout the US states.

Such movement is regarded as internal migration. However, when Puerto Ricans move to the mainland, they leave a distinctive homeland and a culture. Such a movement comes with numerous cultural transition conflicts. Indeed, the movements come with similar conflicts that occur with actual immigration (History Team, 2017). According to the census conducted in 2010, Puerto Ricans are some of the most densely populated communities in the world. Their population stood at 3, 725,789. There are about 100, 000 people per square mile. The number is larger than any of the fifty states of the US.

Puerto Ricans hit 4.9 million in August 2012. The figures suggest that if they had all remained in Puerto Rico, they would be the highest populated and would practically overflow. Owing to the huge number that migrated to the mainland, more of the members of the community live in New York compared to San Juan (History Team, 2017). The Census Bureau in the US, in March, reported that the total population of people on the island fell from 3.7 million recorded in 2010 to 3.6 million by 2013.

It was reported that over 450, 000 people had emigrated from the island in the last 10 years. Most of them are settling in Florida and New York. The San Juan-Carolina Bayamon metropolis carries a third of the population. San Juan is Puerto Rico’s largest city. Its population stood at 395, 326 by 2010. The figures make it the 46th largest city in America. The second largest city is Bayamon, it has 208, 116 members. In America, it falls in position 103, in terms of size.

Carolina has a population of 176, 762, Caguas has 142, 893 while Ponce comes with 166, 327(History Team, 2017). In the period between 1900 and 1930, there were negative stereotypes and mutual misperceptions that took root in both Puerto Rico and the US. While the Puerto Rican elite, locally started embracing the American culture, efforts by the American administration to impose the use of English language in the local learning institutions were met with strong resistance. The resentment was exacerbated by the experience Puerto Ricans were subjected to by civilian authorities and the military (Santos, 2017).

If you wish to get along with life and the people in Puerto Rico as a visitor, it is important to understand Puerto Rican culture. One must know what is appropriate to say and what would rub the sensitivities of the Puerto Rican people the wrong way. In your time in the archipelago of the Caribbean, there are some things that you must avoid saying. There are also some that you can do to show appreciation and alignment to the way of life of the Puerto Ricans.

Clapping at the airport when the plane lands at San Juan, is a welcome gesture that signifies that a Puerto Rican has landed home safely. The bottom-line message here is that it is important to appreciate other people’s culture (Santos, 2017). The stereotype that there is no beautiful woman in Puerto Rico is a misnomer. Besides, the region happens to have produced the highest number of Miss World Beauty pageant winners. Indeed, even the current Miss Universe is from the region (Santos, 2017).

The recent destruction by Hurricane Maria was disastrous in Puerto Rico. The hurricane left most of the residents with no source of electricity and drinking water. The residents of the island tell a story of their struggles to survive every day. The efforts by Puerto Rico to cut down its huge debts have become even more urgent after Hurricane Maria. The financial problems of Puerto Rico were multiplied by Hurricane Maria to the level of a humanitarian crisis. The island was already in financial problems.

After the near complete destruction of the country’s infrastructure, the damage was estimated at between $40 billion and $ 80 billion (Bomey, 2017). The job market of Puerto Rico has been on the sick bed ever since. The US mainland added millions of job opportunities in the period of the Great Recession, Puerto Rico never really recovered from the effects of the depression. Since 2007, the island has lost over 20% of its jobs.

It was projected, before the incidence of Hurricane Maria, by IHSMarkit that the GDP would decline by 3.6% and 2.8% in the years 2017 and 2018 respectively. The huge bureaucracy by the government of Puerto Rico and the structure of regulation has been noted as the main barriers of recovery, since they hamper investment efforts. Owing to the budgeting quirks and implications at the political level, Puerto Rico receives comparatively less Medicaid than the other US states.

The island has consequently resolved to taking alternative approaches that include more borrowing to channel funds to its already deprived health sector (Bomey, 2017). The long process of granting permits coupled with the expensive energy grid, which was destroyed by Hurricane Maria, has made investors to fear investing on the island. The challenge of inducing economic growth and the resolve of the debt problems of Puerto Rico will grow worse if the federal government declines to approve a major reconstruction plan.

It would lead to an increase in the migration from the island and generate an increased risk of looting and protests (Bomey, 2017). In 2017, September, the Hurricane Maria, swept through Puerto Rico. It is now regarded as the worst ever natural disaster to hit the island. Many countries and people showed willingness to help Puerto Rico recover from the disaster. Indeed, the island received aid from many fronts.

The only problem was that many well wishers and organizations found it hard to identify organizations that they could trust with the aid they wished to donate to the Puerto Rican people. Some of the well-known and trusted humanitarian organizations included Friends of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican Family Institute, Puerto Rico We Care, Grupo Guayacan, Puerto Rican Family Institute, The Hurricane Maria Community Relief & Recovery Fund among others (Bogaty, 2017).

The Cultural Adaptation of Cognitive Therapy for Puerto Rican Youth is a short term intervention trying to mobilize the Puerto Rican Youth and other Spanish Speaking People to change their mindset, improve their relationships and modify behavior to adapt to the new realities. The program targets both individuals and groups (Rosselló& Bernal, 1999). Puerto Rico.