By Denise Collazo and Juan Cartagena
LatinoJustice has been engaged in a lengthy legal battle with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) over its failure to adequately address the needs of Hurricane Maria victims on a range of issues. Today, Juan Cartagena, President and General Counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF, issued the following statement on the impending termination of Temporary Shelter Assistance and subsequent eviction of the hundreds of families.
Tallahassee, FL- Voting rights advocates applaud the ruling from Judge Walker ordering compliance with Section 4(e) of the Voting Rights Act which requires voting and election materials and assistance be provided to U.S. Citizen voters educated in Spanish in Puerto Rico. Today’s decision recognizes the growing presence of Puerto Rican voters and their right to fully participate in elections that would impact their future.
Extends Hotel Deadline to Midnight on Sept. 13, 2018 and urges FEMA to find housing Assistance for Plaintiffs prior to September 13th
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 30, 2018
CONTACT: Christiaan Perez, [email protected], 212-739-7581
Civil rights organizations have asked a federal judge to order the state of Florida and local election officials to provide Spanish-language ballots, literature and translators for voters of Latino descent in time for the midterm election.
Civic engagement groups filed suit against 32 Florida counties who are in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965’s requirement to provide bilingual voting materials and assistance, including ballots and poll worker support, for Puerto Rican-educated, Spanish-speaking United States citizens. The plaintiffs are represented by LatinoJustice PRLDEF, Demos, and the law firm of Altshuler Berzon LLP. Service Employees International Union also represents certain plaintiffs. Currently, many thousands of Puerto Rican and other Spanish-speaking Florida residents with limited English proficiency are being impeded from exercising their fundamental right to vote because elections in many parts of the state are conducted only in English.
Judge Hillman heard oral arguments in our case against FEMA seeking a Temporary Restraining Order to prevent massive evictions of evacuees from Puerto Rico staying in hotels nationwide under the Temporary Shelter Assistance (TSA) program. He issued an oral ruling to extend his prior order of a TSA extension to August 31st and reserved ruling on the TRO until then.
On behalf of the Center for Investigative Journalism in Puerto Rico and LatinoJustice, Democracy Forward Foundation filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for failing to release records detailing information about its response to the disaster.
Read the statement in English here.