The French immigration to Puerto Rico came about as a result of the economic and political situations which occurred in various places such as Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

 (USA), Saint-Domingue (Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

) and in Europe.

Another factor which encouraged French immigration to the island was the revival of the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815. The Spanish Crown decided that one of the ways to end the pro-independence movement in Puerto Rico was to allow Europeans of non-Hispanic origin who swore loyalty to the Spanish Crown to settle in the island.