Puerto Ricans in Florida: What’s Their Take on Immigration?
Hello, everyone! Today, I want to comment on an article I read that speaks about the attitudes that Puerto Ricans in Florida have towards immigration. The author, Ariana J. Valle, conducted the study in order to determine Puerto Ricans’ attitudes towards immigration and how that affects their political choices. Valle begins the article by explaining how former President Trump’s disparaging attitude toward Latinos is a continuance in the trend of nativism that has plagued America. Trump’s attitude was evident to me in his increasing calls to build a wall between the United States and Mexico, which also serves as a symbol of his dislike of Latin Americans in general.
Valle, in her introduction, explains that while most of the Latin Americans that responded to her surveys regarding their thoughts on immigration had favorable things to say about undocumented immigrants, but seemed to judge those immigrants on “undeservingness” and “deservingness,” while also judging them in terms of the impact they will have on the future of all Latin Americans in the United States. It is clear to me that Puerto Ricans were seen as undeserving of being American, as while the United States acquired Puerto, they designated it as a special territory to which the Constitution doesn’t apply. As a result, the citizenship status of Puerto Ricans is also significantly weaker than those born stateside, as the laws regarding naturalization are in the Constitution itself.
As Valle herself states, I also believe that the Puerto Rican attitude towards immigration was, in part, created by this “subconscious racism” that implied to Puerto Ricans that they were unworthy of being American. Considering that I myself have been exposed to the stereotype that Latin Americans are more likely to be criminals than other ethnicities, I believe that Latin Americans have been conditioned to believe in their own undeservingness. That, combined with the fact that Florida has always been known as a very conservative state, is enough to show that Puerto Ricans that live in Florida probably have a more polarized view of immigration than Latin Americans living in more liberal states. Since they are exposed to much anti-immigration sentiment, they are probably more likely to judge fellow Latin Americans by deservingness.
As Valle explains, the problem arises when Americans associate Latin Americans with undocumented immigration and the subsequent “criminality” and “illegality” that defines them. While there are standout undocumented immigrants, especially students, this merely creates a distinction between the “good immigrants” and the “removable” ones, which is a significant problem according to Valle. Ultimately, the nativist attitudes promote what Valle calls a “group consciousness.” To me, it is logical that those facing the same problems would band together in an attempt to do something about it. It also becomes clear that the Latino group consciousness, as a whole, supports undocumented immigrants, which would lead to them entering more political battles if they construe one of the politician’s anti-immigration attitudes as anti-Latino.
This article was fascinating for me, as it went into detail about the formation of an entire community in a state that is historically against Latin-American immigration. As Valle also mentions, I am intrigued about the changes that could happen to Florida politically, from its historical standing as a “conservative stronghold.” While Cubans, the biggest Latin community in Florida have been conservatives, Puerto Ricans are now very close to the Cuban community in terms of population. They are also leaning toward the liberal side. Since Latino votes have always been a major part of the state’s politics, considering Florida is a big swing state, it will be interesting to see what changes abound.
As always, thank you for reading! I have linked my source below, so feel free to take a look if you wish.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01419870.2022.2052142
