The federal government is not known for its efficiency. And yet with some things, it can act swiftly and with incredible cruelty. This has less to do with civil servants, who are tasked with carrying out its functions on a day-to-day basis, and more to do with the priorities of those in leadership and in the administration. In the case of assisting Puerto Ricans in the months after Hurricane Maria, the government and FEMA seem to have no problem abruptly ending food aid and rendering thousands of families on the mainland homeless—even after a botched recovery effort and the hiring of several corrupt contractors.
According to the PBS NewsHour, the funding for nearly 4,000 displaced Puerto Rican families who have been provided with temporary shelter expires in March. This timeline is an extension, since the original transitional housing program was set to end in January. But many families were not granted an extension at all and are currently being assisted by the state and non-profit organizations where they are now living.
In Connecticut, more than 168 families were placed in hotels around the state and have been waiting to hear from FEMA about claims they have filed and to see if they qualify for other types of assistance. And while FEMA has been slow to answer their claims, it has been quick to kick them out of the program that is keeping a roof over their heads.
In late December, the Rivera’s were among more than 40 families at [the Red Roof Inn in Hartford] that faced potential eviction and homelessness. FEMA’s transitional housing program was set to end by mid-January. But then FEMA extended the program through March 20th at the request of Puerto Rico’s governor.
Yet that was bittersweet news for the Rivera’s and about 10 other families at the hotel because they didn’t qualify for the extension.
[Israel] Rivera says FEMA denied his family’s financial assistance claim, saying they had effectively refused federal help because, as they’d self-evacuated before the hurricane, no one was home when a FEMA inspector came to visit.
News that the program was ending came as a swift blow. Some families got less than 24 hours notice that they had to vacate the hotel. That’s when activists and elected officials petitioned the state to do something. Thus, the state and nonprofit partners worked together and dedicated funds for families to stay in their temporary housing until March 20. But this relief is not a permanent fix, especially as families go about establishing new lives in Connecticut. And the governor of Connecticut, Democrat Dannel Malloy, doesn’t understand why the federal government is abandoning people in this way at a time of great need.
In the PBS story, Malloy says:
This is a different model that for some reason is being applied to the people of the Commonwealth that we have never applied to a state to state basis. Why don’t we treat our fellow citizens living in Puerto Rico the same way we would treat folks living in New Jersey or New York or Washington, D.C.? [...]
The nature of our response network in the United States – shouldn’t be dependent on charity– and shouldn’t be dependent on – state governments doing for citizens of other commonwealths or states the things that their government would otherwise do or their federal government would step in and help.
The proper role of government and how it assists citizens in times of need is a complicated issue and one that Republicans and Democrats don’t usually agree on. But this shouldn’t really be a partisan issue. Not only should we be helping Puerto Ricans just like we would any other residents on the mainland, but the federal government needs to work quickly to mitigate the harm that has been done since it has screwed up everything about the response to this disaster. From junk food aid to hiring contractors with no experience (twice) to failing to mobilize quickly post-hurricane, there is lots of blame to go around.
But blame won’t help Puerto Ricans. It can’t just be left to volunteers and social service agencies to step in where the government won’t. Yet that’s just what is happening.
For many families at the hotel, it is the grassroots efforts of Hartford’s local Puerto Rican community that have been filling in the gaps where other resources are lacking.
Every week from Monday through Thursday at this church in Hartford, volunteers prepare dinner for the families staying at the hotel.
It’s true that government can only do so much. And displaced Puerto Ricans will face tough choices about whether or not to go back to the island they love or stay on the mainland to create a new life. But its unconscionable to force them into greater poverty and homelessness when all they want is a chance. And especially when the leadership has botched helping them—again and again. This is a crisis that needs and deserves solutions now.