Puerto Rico has done what no American state or territory has done before — it is essentially seeking bankruptcy relief.

The island is petitioning for relief under a federal law for insolvent territories, called Promesa, which contains certain bankruptcy provisions but also recognizes that Puerto Rico, a commonwealth of the United States, is not part of any state and must be treated like a sovereign nation in some ways.

The scale of Puerto Rico’s debt is also unusual: it has about $123 billion in debt and pension obligations. For comparison, Detroit had $18 billion of debt in 2013.

Any relief could eventually help the island return to solvency.

Before then, however, government workers will have to forgo pension payments, while public health and infrastructure projects will go unfunded. The “brain drain” could intensify as well.