Politicians With Puerto Rican Roots Challenge Trump in Push for Aid

By RICK ROJAS OCT. 9, 2017

José E. Serrano has been elected again and again to represent a tiny, tightly packed congressional district in the South Bronx. But since the storm that ravaged Puerto Rico, the island where he lived until he was 8, another constituency far from New York City has commanded more of his attention. It is one that has never voted for him, but that he has nonetheless adopted as his own.

“I’ve often said that I represent two districts: one in the Bronx and one that’s Puerto Rico,” said Mr. Serrano, a Democrat and the longest-serving Puerto Rican in Congress. “This time, the effort is bigger than ever.”

Puerto Rican politicians holding office on the mainland United States, especially those in New York, have long felt compelled to look after the territory, given its limited federal representation and chronic financial distress. But the catastrophic aftermath of Hurricane Maria, which has thrust Puerto Rico to the edge of a humanitarian crisis, has ignited a dire sense of urgency.

The elected officials were driven at first by seeing the pain inflicted by the storm, with lives upended, homes destroyed and food, water and electricity difficult to come by. For some, though, that anguish has morphed into fury, as they have grown incensed by a federal response that they say is woefully lacking and by President Trump’s handling of the situation, which has struck them as dismissive of Puerto Rico’s plight.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/nyregion/politicians-with-puerto-rican-roots-challenge-trump-in-push-for-aid.html