Thirteen days after Hurricane María ravaged our tiny archipelago Puerto Rico, a different kind of disaster made landfall: Donald Trump. At a San Juan church on Oct. 3, 2017, the president, then in his first term, tossed paper towels to a cheering crowd of fanatics. It was like a scene out of a bad comedy, except there was nothing funny about the deadly aftermath of the infamous Category 4 storm.
While Trump certainly has his fans, the mere mention of his name in Puerto Rico is largely met with deep resentment. There has been a long line of offenses: the infamous 2017 visit, his opposition in 2019 to a disaster-aid proposal, the October 2024 MAGA rally when comedian Tony Hinchcliffe referred to our Caribbean jewel as a “floating island of garbage,” and of course there was Trump’s recent absurd idea to sell Puerto Rico via a swap purchase of Greenland.
Clearly, we have more than ample reason to be concerned about Trump’s second presidency.
Despite what millions across the U.S. and its territories thought was impossible, Trump again successfully duped a slight majority of the population into voting against their own best interests to become willing pawns in his game of political tyrant. The repercussions have been swift. Federal agencies that administer crucial services to millions are being gutted, and Trump’s proposed tariffs will not only most impact his voters, but are also sure to lead to a nationwide recession.
There are also his divisive rhetoric and absurd lies to contend with. Only this time, many of the atrocities he promised during his first administration are now coming to fruition, with the self-crowned monarch in the White House overwhelmingly targeting marginalized communities such as immigrants and trans people.
For a brief look at how Trump’s actions impact Puerto Rico, we need only consider three primary areas: immigration, citizenship, and mandates around the English language.
As a colony, the citizens of our Caribbean archipelago are automatically citizens of the imperialist North American nation known as the United States. Typically, when people from neighboring Haiti and the Dominican Republic risked the treacherous waters of Canal de Mona, they could pursue their dream of a better life once on our island. But the recent executive orders on immigration signed by the 47th president directly and drastically impact the archipelago’s immigration policies, already leading to an increased presence of the U.S. Coast Guard at maritime borders. The goal was to discourage those from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti from attempting to reach our shores. Already, Trump is largely preventing these populations from seeking needed refuge.
The question of citizenship—specifically, who is considered an American citizen—is also a battle under the Trump administration. Trump’s executive order aimed at reinterpreting the original purpose of the 14th Amendment to end birthright citizenship is another issue deeply impacting Puerto Rico.
According to a 1898 Supreme Court decision, the government cannot deny citizenship to anyone born in the United States. As of February, multiple states have joined a lawsuit to block the enforcement of the executive order on the grounds of its unconstitutionality. Until now, it was never a question if a child born in Puerto Rico—regardless of their mother’s immigration status—was a U.S. citizen. Even as he faces multiple lawsuits regarding the executive order, Trump is committed to carrying out his anti-immigrant campaign and finding new ways to forge fear in the hearts of the millions of families, who, unlike the billionaires present at his inauguration, are the backbone of the U.S. Last week, the Trump administration removed from the U.S. three American citizen children, including a 4-year-old with Stage 4 cancer.
Related to his attacks on immigrants and citizenship, in March, Trump signed an executive order designating English as the official language of the United States. Under the guise of a “nationally designated language” that represents a “unified and cohesive society,” millions of us—especially those who come from families whose first language is Spanish—know what the executive order really means. The goal is clear: to deliberately further exclude, alienate, and disenfranchise immigrants and others for whom English is not their primary language.
It’s also another attempt to shove the “America First” mandate down the throats of the entire U.S. population. But here in Puerto Rico, the 1902 Official Languages Act declared Inglés and Spanish co-official languages in “all insular governmental departments, courts and public offices.” Then, in 1993, our government adopted both languages as the official languages of the Government of Puerto Rico.
Language, of course, is intrinsically tied to culture. Trump’s executive order making English the official language of the U.S. likely means the colonizer’s language will also be imposed on Puerto Rico, where a majority of people speak another colonizer’s language: Spanish.
When combined, Trump’s efforts will slowly strip and erode Puerto Rico’s vibrant cultura and heritage.
There’s a local saying here that goes: “Cuando a los Estados Unidos les da un catarro, a nosotros nos da pulmonía.” This basically means that when the U.S. gets a cold, we in Puerto Rico catch pneumonia. As a colony of the imperial North American nation, the laws emanating from the U.S. have an overwhelming impact on our citizens. And, adding insult to injury, we are denied the ability to vote in federal elections.
Most of us are holding our breath through the next four years, hoping for minimal sick days coming from the U.S. because our health care system is already so precarious. We’re also unsure if we can survive another disaster—whether natural or of a more Trumpian variety.
Editorial Team:
Tina Vasquez, Lead Editor
Carolyn Copeland, Top Editor
Rashmee Kumar, Copy Editor
