“Send them packing and make all Puerto Ricans who were born outside of the US have to register as legal aliens who can only be here for a certain amount of time.”
If they were born in Puerto Rico, they are American Citizens, and you cannot make them register as aliens and you cannot send them packing.
They are Americans, with the exact same passport as you and the exact same rights of citizenship as you.
It constantly amazes me that normally intelligent FReepers don’t realize that Puerto Ricans are Americans.
Fine cut them lose and all future Puerto Ricans are NOT Americans. They are a protectorate and later a territory that came to us as a consequence of the Spanish American war, not really that much different from the Philippines and Guam during that time. They were never really part of the US culturally and have their own history. They are statutory citizens(granted by Congress), rather than Constitutional citizens as they were granted this status in 1917 under the Jones-Shafroth act. Therefore as they are not guaranteed Constitutional Citizenship they can be cut lose.