Open more doors as Puerto Ricans recover.
On Sept. 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria hit the island of Puerto Rico directly and without mercy. This natural disaster will forever change this island of 3.4 million people, with massive damage to homes and infrastructure. Many homes still are without power, even after four long months.
Within days, and as soon as the airport opened to commercial flights, we started seeing citizens leaving the island. In early communications with Gov. Rick Scott, I shared with him several issues that would come, which he addressed immediately. One of the first issues was that many students were coming to enroll in Florida schools, since the schools in Puerto Rico suffered damage. There would be a need to have them enroll immediately, something made more difficult because many did not have needed documents, like birth certificates, transcripts or immunization records.
Since then, more than 10,000 new students have enrolled in our schools from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Also suggested to Scott was the importance of teacher and nurse reciprocity for certification and licensure. Thankfully, the governor quickly issued an executive order to address that. I also suggested a “one-stop service center” to be able to provide information and services to the newly arrived citizens. Immediately, Scott opened in Miami and Orlando the Multi-Agency Resource Centers, which have served more than 36,300 people since Oct. 3.
Though we continued to see many challenges because of the storm, many have been addressed. One issue that I brought to the attention of Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart was the fear that many seniors enrolled from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands would not be able to graduate since they did not meet the graduation requirements needed in Florida. Thankfully, we solved this by partnering with Puerto Rico’s Education Secretary Julia Keleher, and now these students will be able to graduate by obtaining a Puerto Rico diploma. We will also make sure these students will have in-state tuition to Florida’s colleges and universities upon graduation.
The migration of U.S. citizens from Puerto Rico to the mainland is not something new. Many Puerto Ricans have been leaving the island for decades. In fact, before Maria, more than 1 million Puerto Ricans were living in Florida. It’s not surprising that right after Maria hit Puerto Rico, the residents’ first choice was to come to Florida. They came here also because many have family living here. They preferred to find a safe place to stay due to damage suffered on their homes and the lack of power in Puerto Rico. The Florida Division of Emergency Management says the number of those who have arrived here since October is about 300,000, though that number could include nonresident travelers.
How many will stay? That is a very hard question to answer, but I can say it will not be the same number as those who came. It is safe to say that there were many arriving from the island before the storm. Puerto Rico is a vacation destination and hub, with many Americans traveling to and from the island. In addition, Puerto Rico is a beautiful island that many consider “home.” For this reason, when the island returns to normal, many will go back.
Join me in warmly welcoming our fellow U.S. citizens to Florida. It is the right thing to do.