Puerto Ricans Are U.S. Citizens! 🇵🇷 🇺🇸

Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since but some still treat them as foreigners.

Two incidents involving Puerto Ricans being called foreigners. 

Kroger has issued an apology after a man visiting Savannah, Georgia from Puerto Rico had his driver's license denied as a valid form of ID by a cashier.

Ricardo Florit went to the Kroger on Ogeechee Road back on May 21 to pick up some groceries.

"I bought basically $160 worth of groceries, just regular stuff. Between the items, though, there was one bottle of wine and one beer," Florit said.

When the cashier asked to see Florit's ID, he presented his Puerto Rico driver's license.

Florit said, "Here's the thing, as soon as I whip it out, he seems to recognize it. He says, 'I can't accept that, I need to see your passport.'"

Florit said he immediately tried to correct the situation by assuring the cashier he is a U.S. citizen who has actually served in the U.S. Military.

"I said, 'Listen. It's a valid driver's license legal in 50 states.' And he says, 'Oh, I know. We used to accept them, but we changed our policy. We no longer do.'"

Florit said he ended up calling over the manager.

"I made it a point to tell her I served this military for 18 years, I have been up and down the states left and right, north and bottom and I know it's just as valid an ID," he said.

After some back and forth, he said the manager did allow him to purchase the items, but Florit still left the store feeling frustrated.

He sent an email to Kroger representatives, as a result, to inform them of the incident. He said the response he got was very basic, but he could understand why.

"I know that, unfortunately, in the world we live in, people do try to do things to gain an edge for lawsuit or gain money and whatnot, so I am not offended it did not straight out give an apology," Florit said.

There was another incident in May at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Kenner, Louisiana. A Puerto Rican man who attempted to rent a car at the New Orleans airport last week was denied because he did not have a passport. 

Humberto Marchand told CBS News that he'd already paid for a rental car when he landed at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on May 9. But when he presented his Puerto Rican driver's license to an employee at the Hertz rental car counter, he said he was asked for a valid passport. The employee insinuated that Marchand is foreign and said he couldn't rent a vehicle without showing his passport, Marchand told CBS News. 

Hertz said in a statement emailed to The Times-Picayune|New Orleans Advocate that Puerto Ricans are not required to show their passports when renting cars in the U.S. 

"We sincerely regret that our policy was not followed and have apologized to Mr. Marchand and refunded his rental," Hertz said in the statement. "We are reinforcing our policies with employees to ensure that they are understood and followed consistently across our locations.”

Video recorded by Marchand shows a Hertz employee asking him to leave. When he refuses, she asks him if he wants her to call the police.

A Kenner Police Department officer responded to the reported disturbance at 11:37 p.m. and also asked Marchand to leave, according to Cpt. Michael Cunningham, a spokesperson for the department. 

Marchand told CBS that as he was leaving, the officer said he would call "the border authorities" if necessary.

Cunningham denied that claim.

"We viewed body cam footage of the officer's encounter and nowhere in video does officer mention Border Patrol, ICE, Immigration or anything of that nature during his encounter," Cunningham said in an emailed statement. 

Rep. Jenniffer Gonzales-Colon (R-PR) is the resident commissioner for Puerto Rico.

President Joe Biden is the current leader of the United States. He is also the head of state of the five occupied U.S. territories. Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) have advocated for U.S. voting rights expansion and those living in the territories to vote for president.

If you rent a vehicle, you must have a valid U.S. or Canadian identification.

If you win a jackpot at a casino in the United States, a valid U.S. identification is needed.

That includes passports, military IDs and state/territorial identification. 

The five occupied U.S. territories, Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa have a total population of 4.3 million.

The territories have a governor and a U.S. Representative who is a non voting delegate.

In Puerto Rico, their representative is a resident commissioner who serves a four year term.

Puerto Rican statehood has been a controversial topic. Republicans are racist. They do not want Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia statehood due to minority majority and the possible Democratic swing.

Those living in these places (except American Samoa) are U.S. Citizens. Those living in American Samoa are not U.S. citizens. They are U.S. nationals and are required to have a U.S. passport to enter the mainland. That is controversial due to traditionalist culture and the Organic Act of 1898.

Those living in the U.S. territories cannot vote in the U.S. presidential elections.

You do not need a passport to visit Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Northern Mariana Islands. You need a passport to enter Guam (case by case basis) and American Samoa (since U.S. Customs and Border Protection is not available and America Samoa has their own customs).

Although a U.S. territory, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is self autonomous. The territory is debating over it should be a state or an independent country. 

It has it's own Olympic organization and is recognized as a country in the Winter and Summer games. The Olympics also has athletes representing American Samoa and Guam.

Republicans oppose voting rights in the U.S. territories as well as statehood for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.

Puerto Rico has a population of 3.4 million people. The territory's main languages are Spanish and English. Spanish is spoken by 89% of the territory.