In 1898 United States citizenship was forced onto Puerto Ricans. Today Boricuas struggle with some form of second-class citizenship. Puerto Ricans never had to cross frontiers, like Mexicans, or risk their lives in desperate dinghies, like Cubans or Dominicans. Puerto Ricans were full citizens who struggled like immigrants, preserved their culture and never hyphenated their names.

Most Puerto Ricans, according to writer Ed Morales, are independentistas at heart. Unlike the Marine Tiger or the Operation Bootstrap generations, Puerto Ricans come to New York more fluidly. There may be economic considerations that star in their migrating eyes but members of the new Puerto Rican diaspora find New York a challenge and a brave new world where they can plant their flags and create new lives and new futures for themselves.

Professor Jose Torres-Santiago, formerly of Hunter College, said that a poor working class migrating en mass no longer exists. Another kind of migration is under way. Torres-Santiago said that educated Puerto Ricans, educated on the island, engineers, chemists, petroleum experts, doctors, nurses and teachers must leave Puerto Rico in order to find work.

He calls this shift of a professional class from the island to the United States an "escape of intelligence." As when India was colonized by Great Britain, the best and the brightest were educated and left the country.

"This is the draining of the intellectuals and intellects of the country," said Torres Santiago, "and they don't come back."

Ten years ago Javier Gomez came to New York for educational opportunities, he said. Although he could have gone to any of the top universities in Puerto Rico, Gomez choose to earn his education outside of the country.

"I was always intrigued by the myth of New York City," said Gomez.

Before moving to New York, Gomez had disliked what looked like little visible progress for Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico. When he started to live in New York, he realized the opportunities.

"I had no need to leave," said Gomez, "but I wanted a global perspective and to grow and experience the world." Gomez saw the multicultural mix of New York and was intrigued. He believes this attitude goes against the idea that most islanders have provincial mindsets. Today, Gomez is a press officer for Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, Jr. and works as a professional actor.

Playwright Roberto Ramos Perrer has written a play, "Mala Sangre," about a professional couple who leave the University of Mayaguez for jobs in the United States. Perrer's play, said Gomez, is a revelation of contemporary Puerto Rican life.

Musician Tato Torres, of Yerba Buena, migrated as a teenager in 1984 for the United States and he calls the move of professionals from the island to the United States "a constant migration.” It’s because of the endemic unemployment on the island. Torres also said that there was a sense of adventure that encourages Puerto Ricans to leave their island.

"We've accepted that we're not limited," said Torres. "We can be Puerto Rican wherever we go. Check out how many different Puerto Rican Day parades exist. We're everywhere."