History of the Jews in Puerto Rico Very few American Jews settled in Puerto Rico after it was ceded by Spain to the United States under the terms of the 1898 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Spanish–American War. The first large group of Jews to settle in Puerto Rico were refugees fleeing German–occupied Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. The second influx came in the 1950s, when thousands of Cuban Jews (most of Eastern-European descent) fled after Fidel Castro came to power. The majority immigrated to Miami, Florida, but a sizable portion chose to establish and integrate themselves on the neighboring island because of Puerto Rico's
Statehood movement in Puerto Rico people to express unequivocally the desire to become a state, as opposed to some other alternative to the current territorial status, the stark language and cultural differences between Puerto Rico and most of the United States, the current migration of Puerto Ricans away from Puerto Rico, and Puerto Rico's poor economic conditions and its consequent need to be supported by the federal government. Since the transfer of sovereignty of Puerto Rico from Spain to the United States, the relationship between Puerto Rico and the US has been evolving. On April 11, 1899, the peace treaty between Spain and the USA