Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-09-07)

ELECTION 2020

3. PEOPLE

52

HURRICANE MARIA REFUGEES

CHARACTERISTICS ○ The 400,000 Puerto Ricans who settled in Florida after Hurricane Maria in 2017,

making them the state’s second-largest Latino group

AGE ○ Mostly working-age adults and children

AfterHurricaneMariadevastatedPuertoRicoin2017,theextendedsufferingcausedanexodus.About400,000PuertoRicans

relocatedtoFlorida,manysettlingaroundOrlandoandalteringthepoliticalcompositionofa perennialswingstate.Puerto

RicansnowrivalCubansasthestate’slargestLatinogroup.A Republicanpollstersaysthatif two-thirdsofthe400,000had

participatedinthe 2016 electionandvotedaspollssuggesttheywouldhave( favoringDemocratsoverRepublicans70%to30%),

Trumpwouldn’thavewonFlorida. ○DemocratshavescrambledtoregisterPuertoRicantransplantsandturnthemout.

InMiamiandTampa,Biden’sSpanish-languageadsfeaturea narratorwitha Cubanaccent,butintheOrlandomarket,the

narrator’saccentisPuertoRican.However,modelingconductedbytheFloridaDemocraticPartyfoundthat220,000ofthesenew

Floridiansaren’tyetregistered.Andgettingthemtothepollswillbetricky.Manystruggletofindsteadyjobsandhousing.Others

areworkingmultiplejobsornavigating language barriers. All have endured stressful migrations. The Covid-19 pandemic is an

added hurdle.�Joshua Green

AMRY PIZARRO ○ 36 →

○ LAKELAND ○ podcaster

“Iwantto

feel—asa Hispanic,

a PuertoRican,

anda Latina—heard

andnoticed.I want

equality.I don’t

wanttobetreated

likeI’mnotan

American citizen.”

CAROL GARCIA ○ 33 ←

○ MULBERRY ○ podcaster

“I’mnothappy

withTrump.Whenhe

visitedPuertoRico,he

threwpapertowelsatus—I

feellikehemockedusand

disrespectedus.Hedidn’t

seemtocareaboutallthe

peoplewhodiedduringthe

hurricane.Asa president,

hehasn’tbeenresponsible

and hasn’t manned up.”