<P> The U.S. Supreme Court is unanimous in its interpretation that the extension of the privileges and immunities clause of the U.S. Constitution to the inhabitants of a territory in effect produces the incorporation of that territory . The net effect of incorporation is that the territory becomes an integral part of the geographical boundaries of the U.S. and cannot, from then on, be separated . The whole body of the U.S. Constitution is extended to the inhabitants of that territory, except for those provisions that relate to its federal character . </P> <P> Moreso, the needful rules and regulations of the territorial clause must yield to the Constitution and the inherent constraints imposed on it in dealing with the privileges and immunities of the inhabitants of the incorporated territory . </P> <P> Notice must be taken that incorporation of a territory takes place through the incorporation of its inhabitants, not of the territory per se . As such, those inhabitants receive the full impact of the U.S. Constitution, except for those provisions that deal specifically with the federal character of the Union . </P> <P> Lands under the sovereignty of the federal government (but not part of any state) that were given a measure of self - rule by the Congress through an Organic Act subject to the Congress' plenary powers under the territorial clause of Article IV, sec. 3, of the U.S. Constitution . </P>

Puerto rico is one of the united states' dependent areas