Puerto Rico Status: Court or Congress?
Some observers responded with outrage to the Supreme Court’s decision that Congress is allowed to discriminate against Puerto Rico when it comes to federal benefits.
2022-05-03 19:53:18 - VI News Staff
Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) tweeted, “I’m disappointed to see the Supreme Court once again treat Puerto Ricans as second class citizens. The people of Puerto Rico deserve better.”
Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL) tweeted, “The Supreme Court’s ruling is unfair to American citizens living in Puerto Rico. Federal benefits like SSI help seniors and people living with disabilities have a better quality of life. I will not stop fighting until our brothers and sisters on the island are granted equality.”
Rep. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon made a statement saying in part, “Following the precedent that allows discrimination against Americans living in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that the Territorial Clause allows Congress to exclude us from such an important social program to combat poverty as it is SSI.”
In these types of statements, observers focus on the needs of the people and the cruelty of denying Puerto Rico’s elderly and indigent the meager payments of SSI. But the court focused on something else: the Constitutionality of Congress’s decision to do so.
May, not must
“Congress may extend Supplemental Security Income benefits to residents of Puerto Rico,” Justice Kavanaugh’s decision said. “Indeed, the Solicitor General has informed the Court that the President supports such legislation as a matter of policy. But the limited question before this Court is whether, under the Constitution, Congress must extend Supplemental Security Income to residents of Puerto Rico to the same extent as to residents of the States. The answer is no.”
Since Puerto Rico residents don’t generally pay federal income tax, the court reasoned, and since Congress has been allowed to treat territories differently from States since the Insular Cases established that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t apply fully to unincorporated territories, Congress can do as it pleases.
Justice Sotomayor said that Congress should extend SSI to Puerto Rico, given that SSI eligibility to States and to other territories does not rest on the amount those regions pay into the treasury. Justice Gorsuch wrote in a concurring opinion that the Insular Cases should be overruled. Since that wasn’t an option in this case, he said that he would have to agree with the majority position.
Few observers have tweeted that Congress should not extend SSI to Puerto Rico, yet the Court’s focus was simply on the fact that the Constitution doesn’t require equality for Puerto Rico.