“With independence, their residents would not have automatic U.S. citizenship or the automatic right to immigrate to the U.S.”
What do you plan to do on the day before or the year before Puerto Rico becomes independent?
How are you going to stop American citizens from traveling from what part of the United States to another part of the United States?
It would have to be phased in with perhaps a 5 year window. Residents would be given an option of choosing Puerto Rican citizenship or U.S. citizenship. They would have 5 years to decide. During the transition, the number of Puerto Ricans allowed to immigrate would decrease each of the succeeding 5 years. Anyway, that’s just a thought.
Either way, some transition period would likely be needed and the details would have to be figured out ahead of time. If there’s a better way than what I suggested, I’m open to listening.