Puerto Rican Impact by Ethan D.

https://thinkprogress.org/activists-hope-new-puerto-rican-residents-in-florida-could-swing-midterms-2bf2687fb26f/

This past summer brought many detrimental hurricanes to the Eastern and Southern parts of the United States, leaving behind towns of complete rubble and homeless people. One of these storms, Hurricane Maria, hit Puerto Rico, leaving behind nothing but destruction. So, when the inhabitants of this island returned after the storm, they had two decisions, either rebuild or leave. In this case, a majority of the Puerto Ricans packed up and left.

As many of you know, Puerto Rico isn’t a state, but rather a territory of the United States. According to the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950, Puerto Ricans are citizens of the United states and may move freely between the island and the mainland. This statement convinced the majority of them to move to the nearest mainland, which is Florida. In addition, since Puerto Ricans are considered citizens, they can immediately vote once they reach the mainland. This doesn’t seem to be important, but in this case the situation is different. Due to the tweets made by Donald Trump, criticizing the efforts of Puerto Ricans in the hurricane cleanup, the majority of these new mainland voters are now voting for Democrats. 


As the senate race in Florida becomes more and more competitive, will the influx of Puerto Rican voters impact the results? Puerto Ricans can’t vote in the presidential election, so is this a good law or should this be changed? Do Puerto Ricans need more restrictions while moving to the mainland?