Refusing to give up control, President Woodrow Wilson signs the Jones Act in 1917 conferring U.S. citizenship on Puerto Ricans and maintaining U.S. control over the Island. The Act also prohibits Puerto Rico from participating in trade with other countries and extends the military draft to the Island in time for World War I when approximately 20,000 Puerto Ricans are inducted into the U.S. war effort.

The grant of U.S. citizenship puts into question whether Puerto Rican citizenship continues to exist in legal terms. The question remains unanswered until many decades later in 2006, when Juan Mari Bras, a well-known pro-independence leader, initiates a court battle. Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court affirms that Puerto Rican citizenship does exist.