Puerto Rican Migration To New York

Puerto Rican Migration To New York

Puerto Ricans have both immigrated and migrated to New York. The first group of Puerto Ricans immigrated to New York in the mid-19th century when Puerto Rico was a Spanish Colony and its people Spanish subjects and as such they were immigrants. The following wave of Puerto Ricans to move to New York did so after the Spanish-American War in 1898. Puerto Ricans were no longer Spanish subjects and citizens of Spain, they were now Puerto Rican citizens of an American possession and needed passports to travel to the mainland of the United States. That was until 1917, when the United States Congress approved Jones-Shafroth Act which gave Puerto Ricans in the island a U.S. citizenship with certain limitations. Puerto Ricans living in the mainland U.S. however, were given full American citizenship and were allowed to seek political office in the states which they resided. Two months later, when Congress passed the Selective Service Act, conscription was extended to the Puerto Ricans both in the island and in the U.S.. It was expected that Puerto Rican men 18 years and older serve in the military during World War I. The Jones-Shafroth Act also allowed Puerto Ricans to travel between Puerto Rico and the United States mainland without the need of a passport, thereby becoming migrants. The advent of air travel was one of the principal factors that led to the largest wave of migration of Puerto Ricans to New York in the 1950s, known as "The Great Migration".