In 1902, Isabel González arrived in Ellis Island, pregnant, alone and with only $11.00 in her pocket. She —like others before her— was detained for being an “alien” and at risk of becoming a “burden” on the state. But Isabel took her fight to the courts, defending her right to stay in the country that had invaded her homeland just four years earlier. She fought all the way to the Supreme Court where she argued for citizenship. In this episode, we learn about Isabel’s ever-so-pertinent legacy, and how another recent challenger also fought for Puerto Rico at the US Supreme Court.
Listen to this episode of our own Futuro Studios series “La Brega.” Here is Episode 4 from Season 3: Isabel González v. United States.
Read the episode transcript here.
For more information:
- Read Sam Erman’s book, Almost Citizens: Puerto Rico, the U.S. Constitution, and Empire
- Learn about Nieve de los Ángeles Vázquez’s campaign to memorialize Federico Degetau, and check out her book El jefe which includes references to him as well.
Additional material by:
- Oyez
You can listen to La Brega: Campeones on your favorite podcast platform including YouTube!
Featured art by Elizabeth Barreto. You can see their Instagram here.
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Episode credits:
La Brega Host: Alana Casanova-Burgess
Written and reported by La Brega’s Alana Casanova-Burgess
Produced by: Ezequiel Rodríguez Andino with help from Nicole Rothwell
Editors: Maria Garcia and Laura Pérez
Fact Checkers: Laura Moscoso and Tatiana Díaz Ramos
Engineers: Stephanie Lebow, Julia Caruso, and JJ Querubin
Sound Design: Jacob Rosati
Production Management Unit: Jessica Ellis, Victoria Estrada, Nancy Trujillo with help from Francis Poon
Latino USA Managing Editor: Fernanda Echavarri
Latino USA Executive Producers: Peniley Ramirez and Maria Hinojosa
La Brega Executive Producers: Marlon Bishop, Marcia Garcia, and Alana Casanova-Burgess
Social Media: Luis Luna, Paloma Perez and Anhelo Reyes
Episode Adapted for Latino USA by Nicole Rothwell
