By Jasleen Villamil

My Grandparents in the waves of Puerto Rican Migration

Puerto Ricans don’t require a green card, because Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States. Although, this class was about Immigration in New York and Puerto Ricans are not considered Immigrants in United States legal terms, I wanted to take a look at when my maternal grandparents came and where did they fall in the waves of Puerto Rican Migration.

The difference between Puerto Rican Migration and Immigration.

This is where Puerto Ricans migrated to

1898 – The United States wins the Spanish- American war and gains Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines

1917 -Under the Jones Act, Puerto Rico is declared a U.S. territory and all Puerto Ricans are given U.S. citizenship.

1945 -A great, post-war wave of Puerto Rican immigration to the United States begins. Most come searching for employment opportunities in the booming economy.

1948 -The U.S. Congress allows Puerto Rico to elect its governors by popular vote; Muñoz Marín is elected to the first of four terms. His economic development program, Operation Bootstrap, industrializes and urbanizes the island through low wages and tax concessions to U.S. investors. While the program also promotes migration to the mainland to provide labor for U.S. industry, those who remain enjoy a higher standard of living than ever before.

My grandmother Born Luz Celandia Garcia

in Ponce, PR

12/02/1936

Born Ismael Blanco in Ponce, PR

09/23/1936

My Maternal Grandparents

My grandfather

Textbook History 1952 - Puerto Rico becomes a

Commonwealth. The island's constitution is proclaimed on July 25, the 54th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of the island.

1953 - The largest migration of Puerto Ricans to the U.S. mainland occurs. Seventy thousand people move primarily to New York, New Jersey, and Florida.

In the 1970s many Puerto Ricans went back to Puerto Rico because of the recession in the states

My Grandfather came to the Bronx in 1958 and worked in a furniture factory as a carpenter. He liked the city for it’s convenience and technology.

My grandmother came in 1960 after my grandfather had gotten things together, and became a housewife with 4 kids until he left.

She was able to find a job in a sewing factory until it got to hard on her own and she went on public assistance and married another man who helped support her.

My grandfather ended up moving back and forth between Puerto Rico and New York and fathered 11 children

My Grandparents

Migration numbers every decade up to 1990..

My grandparents came around the same time many other Puerto Ricans came.

My grandfather went back in the 70’s and 80’s when a lot of Puerto Ricans went back.

Puerto Ricans have the same push pull factors as the many other immigrant populations we studied about such as jobs and whether or not they can receive help such as public assistant benefits.

In conclusion