[Zagadka]

Judge Orders Extension of FEMA Aid for Puerto Rican Storm Evacuees
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/03/us/f ... using.html

The Federal Emergency Management Agency must continue to pay for temporary housing for Puerto Ricans displaced by Hurricane Maria for another 20 days, a federal judge ordered on Tuesday, another short reprieve for hundreds of families who have been unable to return to their homes.

The decision by Judge Timothy S. Hillman of United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts will allow Puerto Rican evacuees benefiting from FEMA’s temporary sheltering assistance program to remain in their government-paid hotel and motel rooms until checkout time on July 24 as the court holds further hearings to determine whether an additional extension is warranted.

The aid was supposed to end at midnight on Saturday, but it was extended until midnight on July 4 after a civil-rights advocacy group filed a class-action lawsuit arguing that withdrawing the assistance would put some Puerto Ricans at risk of homelessness. About 950 families on the mainland and the island were still receiving the aid as of Tuesday, according to FEMA.

That number is significantly smaller than the more than 1,700 families who were receiving aid under the program on Friday. They have been spread across more than 30 states, the biggest number in Florida, with a number of others in Puerto Rico, Massachusetts and New York.

“For now, at least families won’t be evicted,” said Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan, associate counsel for LatinoJustice PRLDEF, the group that filed the complaint seeking a permanent injunction against FEMA.

William Booher, a spokesman for the agency, said in a statement that hotels would be notified of the judge’s continuation of the temporary restraining order, but he declined to comment on the case.

In a separate statement, FEMA said it was extending until Aug. 1 the deadline for hurricane victims living in motels under the program to obtain free airfare to fly home, along with coverage for luggage and pet transportation fees. The original cutoff was July 1.

In his order on Tuesday, Judge Hillman ordered the plaintiffs and FEMA to submit further briefings in writing. In particular, he asked them to address the implications of a refusal by Gov. Ricardo A. Rosselló of Puerto Rico to request an extension of the temporary sheltering assistance. FEMA argued the plaintiffs’ lawsuit would not succeed because Mr. Rosselló agreed to the termination of the program, which had been extended three times before the June 30 deadline.

Oh yea, Puerto Rico is still a thing and part of America. Let's celebrate the 4th by not completely ignoring Americans.

[Suntzu]

Come back in a year and Puerto Rican will still be sitting on their donkeys waiting for help.

Cut Puerto Rico loose. Give them independence.