Puerto Rico ~ Bienvenido a Florida

Puerto Ricans are migrating into Florida. This migration is a response to lack of US support for the Puerto Rican people following the 2017 hurricane devastation. 

Puerto Rico’s Mass Migration Is Reshaping Florida 

(Bloomberg Politics)*

US government (aka "Donald Trump") threw paper towels to Hurricane Maria survivors in San Juan, rather than extending the help needed, following the devastation caused when the category 4 storm hit the island.

An echo opinion, was published in the Orlando Sentinel, written by a Puerto Rico native. He honors his father's military service as a way to affirm ethnic patriotism. In other words, Puerto Ricans are Americans and immigrating to Florida, as citizens.

Papi, patriotism and the 'Puerto Rican Air Force' ~ Though he was raised on the island, my father’s love, dedication and loyalty to the United States was legendary.

ORLANDO (a Groveland writer), Florida ~ 

Call it a matter of family pride.

Call it the strength that binds us as a nation.

My father, Jose Cuevas Marx, was born in Puerto Rico in 1922. He retired from the United States Air Force a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam. And just as he lived his life for two nations, he was laid to rest in 1991 at the National Cemetery in Puerto Rico. A true patriot.

Though he was raised on the island, my father’s love, dedication and loyalty to the United States was legendary. My three brothers and I were born on U.S. Air Force bases — my older brother and I in Puerto Rico and our younger brothers in Lincoln, Neb., and Wiesbaden, Germany. So you’ll probably guess what’s coming: 

We all served in the U.S. Air Force — or, as we called it growing up, “The Puerto Rican Air Force.” My father always made sure we knew we were the children of two flags. I believe he felt it was more about family and culture than political alignments. I imagine most Puerto Ricans feel the same sense of loyalty and love for both.

So now, it seems my tiny island has fallen on particularly hard times. Bad politics, bad economic policies and years of hoping things will get better, but sadly just more of the same. Add a natural disaster named Maria that devastated the island, and what do you get? The last straw for many Puerto Ricans. Even some of the “I’ll never leave my beautiful island” hard-line types have called it quits and made the move to the mainland.

Notice, I called it a move, not a migration, not an exodus. 

My father — always the realist — was just a little bit ahead of his time and decided to make the move a little sooner — 39 years sooner. “Way to be proactive, Papi.”

All across Central Florida, many cities and communities are receiving and welcoming our new neighbors from the Caribbean. What an awesome job Central Florida has done with the Welcome Wagon. Muchas gracias. Just like Puerto Ricans have been counted on to serve and defend our great nation since the first shot of World War I, Puerto Ricans continue to fight for a better life, adapting when things get rough, all of us together, as Americans.

Now, there will be some growing pains. This is to be expected. 

Not everyone likes a melting pot heavy on the Adobo. 

But if pride and patriotism could be measured in our nation, it would be surging up in Florida. And that’s in everybody’s best interest. My father always thought so.

Carlos Cuevas of Groveland is a member of the Orlando Sentinel Editorial Advisory

*Orlando, a metropolitan area of about 2.4 million, is especially attractive to the new Floridians, with the prospect of jobs in the Disney World-fueled hospitality industry, free couches from friends and relatives, and necessities like passable roads and functioning schools. But the mass migration has the city bursting at the seams.