When hurricanes hit Puerto Rico, some Americans on the mainland saw the aid sent to the island as doing Puerto Ricans a favor. But that’s a misunderstanding of the situation. Puerto Rico’s financial troubles didn’t appear out of nowhere — they’re a direct result of U.S. policies that have long taken advantage of the island. To really grasp the challenges Puerto Rico faces today, we need to look back at the history and relationship between the island and the United States.

First and foremost, it’s important to know that Puerto Ricans are American citizens. Yes, just like those living in the 50 states, people born in Puerto Rico have U.S. citizenship. This often gets overlooked, but it’s key to understanding the unfair treatment Puerto Ricans have endured.

Let’s start with a bit of history. Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony for more than 400 years. But in 1898, during the Spanish-American War, the United States invaded and took control of the island. The U.S. ignored Puerto Rico’s newly elected parliament and instead set up its own colonial government.

Then, in 1901, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Insular Cases that Puerto Rico was an “unincorporated territory,” meaning the full rights of the U.S. Constitution didn’t apply there. The reasoning was shockingly racist: the Court claimed Puerto Ricans couldn’t understand “Anglo-Saxon laws and principles,” so the Constitution didn’t fully cover them. At that time, Puerto Ricans weren’t even U.S. citizens.

It wasn’t until 1917 that Puerto Ricans were granted citizenship under the Jones-Shafroth Act, and even then, it wasn’t out of generosity. The U.S. wanted to draft Puerto Ricans to fight in World War I. Over the years, more than 300,000 Puerto Ricans have served in the U.S. military. But despite risking their lives for the U.S., Puerto Ricans still can’t vote for the president or for senators and representatives in Congress — that sends them into battle. The only person they can elect to represent them in Washington is a nonvoting “resident commissioner,” who can speak on their behalf but has no real power when it comes to making laws.

Now let’s talk about how the U.S. has economically exploited Puerto Rico. Back in 1947, the United States launched “Operation Bootstrap,” a plan to shift Puerto Rico’s economy from farming to manufacturing. The U.S. invited American companies to set up shop on the island, offering them big tax breaks, cheap labor, and other perks. For a while, this seemed to work; Puerto Rico’s economy grew, and life on the island improved.

But here’s the catch: this success was built on shaky ground. In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed a law that began phasing out those tax breaks. Without the incentives to stay, many American companies packed up and left. This was a huge blow to Puerto Rico’s economy, resulting in the loss of nearly 40% of its manufacturing jobs.

With fewer jobs and a shrinking tax base, the Puerto Rican government had to borrow heavily to make up for the lost revenue. This wasn’t because the island was irresponsible; it was because the U.S. pulled the rug out from under them. What made things worse was that U.S. brokers and vulture capitalists started buying Puerto Rico’s debt at a discount and then demanded full repayment, even if it meant cutting essential services like education (yes — 44% of the public schools have been closed). The $72 billion debt Puerto Rico faces today isn’t just a number — it’s the result of policies that have pushed the island to the brink.

As if the economic challenges weren’t enough, Puerto Rico has also been suffocated by the Jones Act, a law passed in 1920 that still affects the island today. The Jones Act requires that all goods shipped between U.S. and Puerto Rican ports must be carried on American-made, American-owned, and American-crewed ships. This means that anything coming to Puerto Rico from a foreign country has to be unloaded in a U.S. port first, transferred to an American ship, and then sent to the island. This adds a lot of unnecessary costs, making everything more expensive for Puerto Ricans.

The impact of the Jones Act is huge. It raises the cost of living in Puerto Rico by anywhere from 12% to 35% compared to the mainland. And it also prevents Puerto Rico from making trade deals with other countries, keeping the island dependent on the U.S. for most of its goods. Imagine trying to run a business or feed your family when everything costs more and you have fewer options — this is what Puerto Ricans have been dealing with for over a century.

Today, Puerto Rico is facing serious challenges: over $70 billion in debt, an unemployment rate near 10%, a poverty rate of 45%, and public services that are falling apart. And this was before Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017. Earlier this year, Puerto Ricans voted in favor of statehood in a referendum, but it was largely symbolic because only voting members of Congress can decide whether Puerto Rico becomes a state.

There’s a long-standing belief among some in Washington that Puerto Ricans are not “ready” for statehood — a belief rooted in outdated and racist ideas from over a century ago. It’s hard to ignore the irony when we have Justice Sonia Sotomayor, whose parents were from Puerto Rico, sitting on the U.S. Supreme Court, yet the island’s people are still denied full participation in the democracy they’ve fought to protect.

There’s also a huge misconception that Puerto Rico is a financial burden on the United States. But the truth is, Puerto Rico is actually helping to prop up U.S. businesses. According to Nelson A. Denis, Puerto Ricans pay about $5.95 billion a year in excess profits to U.S. corporations because of the Jones Act. That’s more than the $4.6 billion in federal benefits Puerto Rico receives from the mainland. So, the idea that Puerto Rico is “draining” U.S. resources is simply not true.

Puerto Rico’s story is one of resilience and perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds. But it’s also a story of how U.S. policies have created and prolonged the island’s struggles. Puerto Ricans are not asking for favors — they’re asking for fairness. The challenges Puerto Rico faces today are directly tied to its colonial status and the laws that have prioritized mainland interests over the well-being of the island. It’s time for all Americans to understand the real story of Puerto Rico and to support efforts that will allow the island to finally thrive, free from the constraints of outdated and unfair policies.