Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Hicks, Barbara

Keywords

Puerto Rico, United States, Emigration, Politics, American Dream

Area of Concentration

International and Area Studies

Abstract

This thesis examines emigration from Puerto Rico to the mainland U.S. with the aim of uncovering the factors that account for the large exodus of people from 1898 to present. A review of how major theories of migration have developed over the twentieth and twenty-first centuries suggests several potential explanatory factors. The case analysis is based on the study of Puerto Rican economic and political history, which shapes the socio-economic conditions that drive migration. After a review of earlier waves of migration, the analysis focuses in more depth on the current cycle of migration. An appraisal of migratory movements, government agencies, social networks, and the migrant communities in New York City and Orlando illuminates the factors that can explain migration. The study concludes that emigration from the island is driven by socio-economic conditions created by the post-colonial relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico. Migratory movements have ascended and descended in certain periods in parallel with the economic conditions on the island, economic opportunities on the mainland, and global economic conditions. Nevertheless, there has been a steep increase of emigration from the island, and the main drivers are socio-economic conditions. Puerto Ricans cross linguistic, racial, cultural, and geographic boundaries under the understanding that they are “foreign in a domestic sense.” However, they continue to migrate because they are seeking a better quality of life and job opportunities, that are embodied but not always found in the “American Dream.”

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