48 U.S.C. § 733
Section 733 · Citizens; former Spanish subjects and children; body politic; name
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case Rabang v. Boyd (1957)
Most recently applied in Rabang v. Boyd (July 1957)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
All inhabitants continuing to reside in Puerto Rico who were Spanish subjects on the 11th day of April 1899, and then resided in Puerto Rico, and their children born subsequent thereto, shall be deemed and held to be citizens of Puerto Rico, and as such entitled to the protection of the United States, except such as shall have elected to preserve their allegiance to the Crown of Spain on or before the 11th day of April 1900, in accordance with the provisions of the treaty of peace between the United States and Spain entered into on the 11th day of April 1899; and they, together with such citizens of the United States as may reside in Puerto Rico, shall constitute a body politic under the name of the People of Puerto Rico, with governmental powers as hereinafter conferred, and with power to sue and be sued as such.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
Section was not enacted as part of the Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act which comprises this chapter.
Change of Name
“Puerto Rico” substituted in text for “Porto Rico” pursuant to act May 17, 1932, which is classified to section 731a of this title.
Cross References
Persons born in Puerto Rico declared citizens of United States, see section 1402 of Title 8, Aliens and Nationality.