Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
3/26/2026
Tune in as we explore the Fall 2025 CENTRO Journal on Puerto Rican migration. Recent decades have witnessed economic, political, ecological, and socio-demographic changes that have engulfed Puerto Rico, with out-migration being a common response to such transformations. While the Puerto Rican diaspora was once concentrated in New York City and Chicago, Puerto Ricans from the States and the archipelago continue to migrate to non-traditional destinations across the country, with the current majority residing in Florida. In the last decade, states like Georgia, Ohio, and North Carolina have experienced significant growth in their Puerto Rican population.
Cascading events in the past two decades such as the expiration of Section 936 tax breaks, a prolonged economic recession, Puerto Rico’s unaudited debt and the subsequent imposition of the Puerto Rican Fiscal Oversight and Management Control Board (la Junta), Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the earthquakes of 2019–2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic, all have contributed to migration. Exploitative labor recruitment of Puerto Ricans from the archipelago by stateside companies continues to draw people away. Concurrently, the Puerto Rican diaspora has grown, and Puerto Rican communities have diversified, though less is known about how Puerto Rican families and communities in the diaspora have become heterogenous through patterns of exogamy, cultural identities, regionalism, social mobility, and other factors.
Founded in 1973 by a coalition of students, faculty, and activists, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College (CENTRO) is the largest university-based research institute, library, and archive dedicated to the Puerto Rican experience in the United States. Learn more at centropr.hunter.cuny.edu
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Support our work by donating today at community.hunter.cuny.edu/supportcentro
3/26/2026
Tune in as we explore the Fall 2025 CENTRO Journal on Puerto Rican migration. Recent decades have witnessed economic, political, ecological, and socio-demographic changes that have engulfed Puerto Rico, with out-migration being a common response to such transformations. While the Puerto Rican diaspora was once concentrated in New York City and Chicago, Puerto Ricans from the States and the archipelago continue to migrate to non-traditional destinations across the country, with the current majority residing in Florida. In the last decade, states like Georgia, Ohio, and North Carolina have experienced significant growth in their Puerto Rican population.
Cascading events in the past two decades such as the expiration of Section 936 tax breaks, a prolonged economic recession, Puerto Rico’s unaudited debt and the subsequent imposition of the Puerto Rican Fiscal Oversight and Management Control Board (la Junta), Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the earthquakes of 2019–2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic, all have contributed to migration. Exploitative labor recruitment of Puerto Ricans from the archipelago by stateside companies continues to draw people away. Concurrently, the Puerto Rican diaspora has grown, and Puerto Rican communities have diversified, though less is known about how Puerto Rican families and communities in the diaspora have become heterogenous through patterns of exogamy, cultural identities, regionalism, social mobility, and other factors.
Founded in 1973 by a coalition of students, faculty, and activists, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College (CENTRO) is the largest university-based research institute, library, and archive dedicated to the Puerto Rican experience in the United States. Learn more at centropr.hunter.cuny.edu
Follow us on social media!
Instagram: instagram.com/centropr
Facebook: facebook.com/centropr
Threads: threads.net/@centropr
TikTok: tiktok.com/@centropr
Support our work by donating today at community.hunter.cuny.edu/supportcentro
