Travel encounters show how US treats Puerto Ricans as ‘second-class citizens’

Prejudice abounds in spate of Puerto Ricans being denied services in contiguous US despite being American citizens

They were denied prepaid car rentals, blocked from buying drinks at a grocery, and prohibited from boarding their flight in different parts of the US.

All were from Puerto Rico, whose residents have been American citizens since 1917. But all were recently mistaken for international travelers lacking proper identification and denied services for which they had already paid, highlighting the prejudice that people from the largely Spanish-speaking island – and Spanish speakers in general – face in the US.