Bad Bunny to Perform at the Superbowl: the Truth About Who Can Be Deported

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The Internet has been in an uproar about Puerto Rico’s status as a part of the U.S.

Benito Antonio “Bad Bunny” Martínez Ocasio continues to tour around the world conspicuously leaving the “mainland” United States off of his tour. His original reasoning surrounded the continuous ICE raids that terrorize communities across the country. As a result, his acceptance of the Super Bowl LX performance felt contradictory to some. Others, reminding the world that Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and also a part of his tour, thought it diligent to dismiss his efforts altogether.

The United States has engaged in deportations of Dominicans to Puerto Rican land, giving the critique some credibility. There have been an incredible number of “keyboard warriors” arguing that Puerto Ricans, in particular, cannot be deported based on their citizenship status. The relationship is not as cut and dry as the internet makes it seem.

Commonwealth is Another Word for Colony

Puerto Rico’s existence as a commonwealth of the United States is a result of the spoils of war and a need for bodies to fight wars. The relationship between the two countries is not one of benevolence, and the benefits thereof are murky. Instead, this duality is characterized by forced migration, bomb testing, land theft, and a concerted effort to remove Spanish as the predominant language in the country.

Puerto Rico still does not have the right to vote in U.S. presidential elections and has no Senate representation. They have a non-voting member in the House of Representatives. Puerto Ricans are bound by decisions that they don’t have a say in. Their citizenship is not the citizenship of the rest of the country.

Upon the initial “taking” of Puerto Rico, the United States made sure to emphasize that Puerto Rico belonged to the U.S., but was not a part of it. Eventually, Puerto Ricans became citizens so that they could be drafted into World War I. This is precedent.

In 1941, the U.S. Navy leveraged violence to displace approximately 10,000 residents of Vieques, Puerto Rico. They used the island as target practice, dropping an estimated 3 million pounds of artillery a year—artillery that contained lead, uranium, and napalm. In a predictable twist to the story, the Navy finally left Vieques in 2003, leaving behind unexploded ordnances that release deadly chemicals in the air once detonated.

The relationship between the two continues to emphasize the concept that Puerto Rico belongs to the U.S, but is not a part of the U.S.

The United States Has a History of Deporting Its Own Citizens

Enter Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, and people whom the State decides resemble Mexicans.

A plot known as the Mexican Repatriation Program was ushered into American society during the Great Depression. The same old, rote, boring script was at play: Jobs are being taken away, and they’re being taken away by Mexicans. Real Americans—the ones who speak English and have lighter skin—are deserving of the jobs that are unfairly being stolen, snatched from the grasp of those more deserving. American jobs for real Americans was Former President Hoover’s tagline. Ten years later, about 2 million people were “repatriated.” Approximately 60% of those rounded up were American citizens.

During the 1950s, the U.S. found a crasser name, Operation Wetback. The government put humans on every form of transportation imaginable and brought them back to a country and areas in that country that they were unfamiliar with. Some children never saw their parents again. Many were not allowed to leave with their birth certificates.

The United States has a History of Revoking its Citizens’ Passports

Paul Robeson spoke of freedom, of equality, and of the plight of his fellow man, and he was penalized for it.

Robeson was born in the United States. His father was a revolutionary in his own right, escaping slavery and creating a new life for himself as a minister. His mother was a school teacher. He was Phi Beta Kappa, and graduated from Columbia University with his law degree. He even played professional football. Ultimately, he became a famed actor and singer. His All-American story served no purpose but to suffocate him. His open beliefs about communism cornered him. His status as an American didn’t provide reprieve.

His passport was revoked.

Robeson via Blackpast

Condemnation from the federal government also meant that he was disallowed from working in domestic concert halls. For eight years, he wasn’t able to work, wasn’t able to travel, and wasn’t able to live the life he worked toward. His freedom of speech had an asterisk. He “suffered financial hardship” for his sympathies for marginalized people.

He was an example of what could happen if you spoke up.

The United States Has a History of Interning Its Own Citizens

Executive Order 9066 led to the internment of Americans of Japanese ancestry. Franklin D. Roosevelt saw the attack on Pearl Harbor as a good enough excuse to round up those he deemed a threat to national security. Close to 70,000 of those “threats” were American citizens. Was there proof of a threat? No.

Their property, their personal belongings, their businesses were all lost forever.

Bad Bunny’s status as a U.S. citizen doesn’t bar the State from marginalizing him, from contorting and manipulating the law to their personal ends. In the end, maybe they’ll say, “Whoopsie, never again.” But it always happens again. Most recently, an aggressive ICE raid occurred in the Chinatown neighborhood of New York City. Anyone who was suspected of being an undocumented immigrant was violently detained. Protesters were also violently detained. Citizens of the United States were deemed guilty and had to prove their innocence.

Precedent shows we’re not protected.