FEMA cuts off almost 1,800 Puerto Ricans from housing assistance

New York City officials estimate that between 600 and 700 Puerto Ricans will end up in city shelters.

Damage in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria (Source: FEMA)
Damage in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria (Source: FEMA)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) moved Friday to end housing assistance for nearly 1,800 Puerto Ricans who survived Hurricane Maria last year.

CNN reported that the people had lived rent-free in hotels in Puerto Rico as well as in the continental United States. Though the program was originally designed to only last two weeks, it has been extended several times.

“After 10 months of providing emergency shelter through Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA), FEMA is ending the program on June 30 for Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria survivors,” the agency said in a statement. “Intended to provide emergency shelter, TSA is a temporary solution that bridges survivors into more permanent options.”

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New York City officials estimate that between 600 and 700 Puerto Ricans will end up in city shelters.

“The Trump administration abandoned the people of Puerto Rico,” Jaclyn Rothenberg, a spokeswoman for Mayor Bill de Blasio, told CNN.

FEMA spent more than $432 million housing tens of thousands of hurricane survivors, according to the agency. [CNN] — Will Parker