Oldest U.S. civil rights organization announces support of Puerto Rican statehood

The oldest civil rights organization in the United States is poised to announce its support for Puerto Rican statehood on Monday.

The League of United Latino American Citizens’ (LULAC) decision to take an affirmative stance on statehood for the island marks a break from a historical trend within the organization as leadership previously determined the issue was out of bounds to groups off of the island, The Hill reported.

"The moment is now," said Sindy Benavides, CEO of LULAC.

"We see continuously how our Puerto Rican community is treated as second class citizens — the fact that there are over 235,000 men and women who have served honorably in the military, who have lost their lives, and yet they cannot vote for the president of the United States, it's a double standard," she added.

For many, the issue of Puerto Rico’s political status has increasingly become a civil rights issue as more than 3 million U.S. citizens are denied rights because although they are U.S. citizens, they are residents of a territory and not a U.S. state.

In recent years, the debate has gained more steam as Puerto Ricans have continuously voted to choose statehood in the territory’s status referendums.

"Puerto Ricans on the island voted for statehood in the general election with a simple ballot, so it now becomes a civil rights issue," said Democratic Rep. Darren Soto the first Florida representative of Puerto Rican descent.

"And that is LULAC's main role among the Hispanic community, upholding the civil rights of Latinos across the nation," added Soto, who introduced a statehood bill in Congress along with Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón (R-P.R.).

There have been three plebiscite votes about statehood in 2012 and every time Puerto Ricans voted to become part of the Union. During the last plebiscite, 52% of voters chose statehood – and more Puerto Ricans voted for statehood than for any individual candidate in 2020.