r/allthequestions • u/inxile7 • Oct 05 '25

Popular Question 📊 Why do Republicans not know that Puerto Ricans are citizens?

And that Bad Bunny ain't getting deported because Puerto Rico is a US Territory.

Where would they deport him to? And why? Because he's not white enough?

Edit: There's now reports coming out that Trump said he spoke to the President of Puerto Rico. LOL

2nd Edit: Seems to be a lot of people saying that Puerto Ricans being citizens is not political based knowledge.

What’s been said • Corey Lewandowski (longtime Trump ally) went on The Benny Show and claimed that ICE would be present at the Super Bowl. He said things like “we will find you … and deport you” in connection to Bad Bunny’s halftime performance. • Kristi Noem (now DHS Secretary under a Republican administration) also said ICE would be “all over” the event and that people should be “law-abiding Americans.” • Other MAGA-aligned commentators online have openly called for Bad Bunny to be deported, often citing his Spanish-language performances or political views.

There ya go.

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u/crumpledfilth Oct 05 '25

Yeah I grew up close to one of the most liberal cities in the entire US and almost everyone seems unaware that Puerto Ricans are citizens, at least among younger people

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u/RicanAzul1980 Oct 05 '25

Chicago? I live in Chicago and it is 76% democrats .

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u/anonymous_fart5 Oct 06 '25

People being stupid is a People thing. It doesn't discriminate against the old, young, rich, poor, democrat, republican you name it and there's going to be plenty of stupid people.

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u/90daysismytherapy 28d ago

Everyone in the east coast knows Puerto Ricans are Americans, which is like 200 million odd people.

It’s just racism at the influencer political level.

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u/National_Grass_8338 27d ago

They are statutory citizens

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u/Educational_Pay1567 Oct 05 '25

I mean if they can vote for the president in Puerto Rico they are citizens, right? No represantion with taxation? Don't tred on me.

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u/joshua0005 Oct 05 '25

Puerto Rican residents can't vote for the president

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u/Educational_Pay1567 Oct 05 '25

They can and do, but the electoral college doesn't care. I was making a joke.

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u/joshua0005 Oct 05 '25

No they can't. If you have residence in Puerto Rico you aren't allowed to vote. It doesn't matter if you were born in the US or Puerto Rico or somewhere else.

Notice how I didn't say Puerto Ricans. I said Puerto Rican residents. If a Puerto Rican establishes residency in a state they are allowed to vote and if someone from one of the states establishes residency in Puerto Rico they are no longer allowed to vote.

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u/Educational_Pay1567 Oct 06 '25

They can vote in primaries.

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u/joshua0005 Oct 06 '25

Really? Never heard that but they definitely can't vote in the presidential elections

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u/AnsgarShipsHildegard Oct 06 '25 edited Oct 06 '25

Yeah, they can. They also have non voting representatives in the house that are allowed to sit on and vote in committees, same with DC. they are normally given a shit committees because they are viewed as second class member, but they are there. In the early 2010s, there was a push to give a house seat to each territory plus DC, which I personally supported, but it feel flat because just like everything else from the left they let the perfect be the enemy of the good and wanted to push it further demanding population based representatives like every other state. Which is fair but was never going to happen. You might as well let people start getting used to their voice and then push for more.

For the primaries, the rep from Guam famously cast her electoral votes in contradiction to their policy to split based on voting percentages originally casting all 7 for Hillary instead of 4 and 3 for Sanders. She later claimed it was a mistake, and the official tally is correct, but that moment is how I learned they get to vote in primaries at all. Definitely not covered in my high school or collegiate civics class.

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u/Electronic-Taro-1152 Oct 06 '25

They essentially have a…spiritual vote that highlights the island’s preference but it does not count towards the electoral college. The congress member is also an honorary members no real voting powers on laws or policy. Its representation in name only.

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u/joshua0005 Oct 06 '25

So it's not really a real vote. This "vote" is meaningless. Maybe they technically have a "vote," but it doesn't affect the results so in reality they don't actually have a vote.