Puerto Obama And President Obama's Effect On Puerto Rico

Independence is a status that the U.S. would only allow for Puerto Rico to attain if it is in their economic interest. Until then Puerto Rico’s fate will be at the hands of the United States despite the pro-independence movements that have been going on for years. First, the U.S. has very strategically placed military bases in Puerto Rico that the Defense Department will not give up even if Puerto Rico gains independence. Even if the United States would grant Puerto Rico independence the island is too dependent economically to be able to sustain their own economy.

Hurricane Maria is now known as the most disaster inflicting natural event on record to ever hit Dominica this cause serious damage to the Puerto Rican towns, cities, and their economy. Many American citizens have been asking “how can I help” and many people in our area have been volunteering to collect items for victims of the storm and some have even gone to the island to help firsthand.

White sandy sun kissed beaches, ice cold piña coladas with little umbrellas poking out the top, mingling with locals, waves crashing, and the sound of Bomba through the rows of palm trees surrounding the shorelines. This is the image that most people have of Puerto Rico and they would be right, for the most part, about this beautiful island. However, Puerto Rico which translate to “rich port” is far from the name it inhabits. The commonwealth has a $72 billion dollar debt which is causing the residents to live in poverty and the United States government is partially to blame. In addition, even through Puerto Rico has it 's own government the United States Congress has the final ruling. This is making it difficult for Puerto Rico to resolve this issue. The island and its residents that call it home are treated unfairly and the only resolution to help aid in their struggling economy and politics is to grant Puerto Rico statehood, making the island the 51st state of America.

The people from Puerto Rico were dealing with a very difficult time finding what they need. Besides communication, they loss power, water, and gas supplies were hard to get. While we have everything we need, the United States citizens of Puerto Rico do not.

It is not only about bringing power back on but about realizing the whole grid needs to be rebuilt. Once again, Puerto Ricans are migrating to the U.S. mainland to escape the horrendous conditions with just the clothes on their backs and are being greeted with open arms in Miami. According to the The Guardian newspaper, over 100,000 people are arriving on flights and cruise ships into Miami, Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale. Many are arriving with heavy hearts about how their situation was handled by the current President, his disrespectful tweets about their governor and with that many people joining the voting population in upcoming elections, we may be seeing a huge change in a state that he won in the 2016 election. Darren Soto, Florida’s first Puerto Rican US congressman suggests that “between 10 and 14% of Puerto Rico’s 3.4 million people are considering moving to the US mainland” (Luscombe, 2017).

262). Furthermore, in 1998 the future is still undecided and on December 13, 1998, this Sunday, there is going to be a plebiscite to see what the inhabitants of the island of Puerto Rico wish as their political status. To view more on this plebiscite, there is a site of the Puerto Rican Herald that discusses Sunday. The last sentence of Fernandez's book poignantly states the large contradiction I have been thinking since we first studied the American invasion of Puerto Rico: “The United States of America, the oldest representative democracy on earth, owns Puerto Rico, the oldest colony on earth.”(Fernandez, p. 26)

After the hurricane, Puerto Rico was left helpless. The island was left devastated. Downed trees lined the island. It's not just downed power lines around the island, but giant transmission towers laying across roadways in the most remote parts of the island. Leaving the entire island without power. The longest blackout in American history. Most Americans do not realize how bad of a situation Puerto Rico is in. It's poor economic status has doomed the territory for many years to come. This image from CNN, shows the percentages of power up all across the island (Santiago 2017). As you can tell many places could not be contacted. Major Carmen Yulin Cruz is very frustrated with the relief efforts. Unfortunately humanitarian efforts are not quickly

Despite the key points of the development paradigm, there are no recognized indicators that this disaster was the result of human exploitation or marginalization of poor people. The study did show a vast difference in household income levels. The median household income in the US affected area was $25,347, compared to a median household income of $10,570 in the affected area of Mexico. Regardless of these income level differences, the study concluded that local television appeared to be the primary source of information for 44% of the participants, with 43% using two sources of information for hurricane warnings and updates and 88% found that information they received was helpful (Ruin et al., 2008). There were no complainants from the interviewees that they failed to have enough time to prepare for the hurricane. Military forces of both countries were deployed to conduct rescue missions for their respective

Hurricane Irma crippled Puerto Rico with one of the largest blackouts in history. CNN reported last month that only twenty six percent of the electricity in Puerto Rico had been restored since the hurricane ripped through in September (Levenson, 2017). It has been over three months and over half of their population is lacking electricity and clean water. By the time Irma reached Florida, it regained momentum and flooded Miami with over twenty inches of rain (Weather Channel, 2017). This resulted in a state of emergency and complete shutdown of the city. Also, Orlando and Walt Disney World experienced some aggressive winds and thunderstorms. Wildfires engulfing California reached ten billion dollars in repair costs. This estimated cost was shared before the fires roared into Southern California. Solutions to this continued problem could include reserving more funds into the natural disasters budget. This would provide a safety net for the citizens of the affected state along with the salaries of those helping such as firefighters and

In 1992, Hurricane Andrew struck the state of Florida, and FEMA was evidently not prepared to handle such an event. It was clear that FEMA’s partners at the State level were also not prepared to handle such an event. Across the United States, news stations were showing and documenting the failures of the State and FEMA. The

In 2012, Hurricane Sandy ravaged the East Coast leaving bits and pieces of people’s lives in its wake. While those in need did receive much needed response and help from surrounding areas, other states, and the government, there was much that was learned from this disaster as well. A disaster was declared and FEMA stepped in, along with the Coast Guard, National Guard, and State Defense Forces to provide their assistance (Bucci, et al., 2013).

Ten years later the overwhelming vote for statehood in the recent referendum is proof that the people of Puerto Rico continue to look for solutions to improve life on the island. Collazo (2017) argues that the overwhelming votes for statehood in 2017 reflect the people’s eagerness to bring positive change to Puerto Rico and to work on a way to address their current failing economy. Interviews conducted by Collazo found that most people want either statehood or an “enhanced commonwealth”, which will still allow some level of autonomy. However, the current governor of Puerto Rico is confident that statehood will afford him the opportunity to negotiate Puerto Rico’s debt with the federal government. Collazo argues that with Republicans dominating the current administration it is unlikely that Congress will even attempt to address the statehood movement of Puerto Rico. However, the Oxford Analytical Daily Brief Service (2016) indicates there are several hurdles Puerto Rico

The Supreme Court will present President Obama with a final opportunity at implementing his arrangement to shield more than 4 million undocumented immigrants from deportation. The justices agreed Tuesday to hear the administration's conflict that Obama has the power to change immigration policy without going through Congress. The court's agreement to hear the appeal to a challenge brought by Texas and 25 other states led by Republican governors will add fuel to the heated debate over illegal immigration in the 2016 presidential campaign. A decision reversing the appeals court would give the Department of Homeland Security more than six months to begin implementing the policy before Obama's term ends in January 2017. At that point, it would

On July 23, 2016 The Supreme Court deadlocked with a tie 4-4 on a case against President Obama’s immigration plan, which appears to be Obama’s biggest legal defeat of his administration. If this program were to be approved then it would have protected about 4 to 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation and given them legal access to jobs. Now with the ruling, President Obama is unable to accomplish his immigration reform goals until after the November election. Since the ruling was issued in one plain sentence “The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided court”, without any argument, Obama’s immigration programs will return to the lower courts. The reason for this conflict has been assumed to be ideological with republicans such

Puerto Rico was heavily devastated by the Hurricane Maria, in 2017 and is in need of medical assistance. In 2018, InnovaCare Health officials stated that they received excellent Medicare Ratings, recently from the Medicaid and Medicare. Of the 5-star ratings, InnovaCare was given a 4.5 rating. Enrolled in these programs are more than 200,000 Puerto Ricans. Richard Shinto, CEO (Chief Executive Officer) states that the company, (InnovaCare Health), receiving a 4.5 rating shows that the quality of service they give to all their patients in Puerto Rico, is high quality. Even though Puerto Rico is going through a crisis their need for medical care essential to their recovery. InnovaCare is on target in helping the residents of Puerto Rico, by providing them with outstanding medical care. The company takes pleasure in helping and working with others in giving the residents excellent healthcare coverage.