Take Action for Puerto Rico!

In 2017, we could not have imagined the devastation and marginalization that our beloved Puerto Rico would endure. Hurricanes in the Caribbean are nothing new, but Hurricane Maria’s ferocity—super-powered by the realities of climate change—exposed the vulnerability of an archipelago with a decaying energy infrastructure, a weak social safety-net, an unfair relationship with the United States, and a profound financial crisis.

Through hard work and advocacy with partners, we’ve been able to make significant progress toward achieving some of our shared goals. Take Action for Puerto Rico! continues to bring together people and organizations to raise awareness, stimulate collaboration, and take action around critical issues for Puerto Rico.

Take Action to ensure Puerto Rico Transitions into SNAP

Through Take Action for Puerto Rico!, we’ve been able to get unfair restrictions on disaster spending lifted, achieve parity for anti-poverty measures like the Child Tax Credit (CTC), higher funding for the archipelago’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and increase in the federal share of the Medicaid program.

Today, our advocacy is focused on ending the nutrition assistance inequalities faced by families and children residing in Puerto Rico. Since 1981, U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico have been excluded from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and from receiving the same nutrition assistance provided to other low-income Americans, exacerbating food insecurity, particularly during times of emergency.

More than 40% of the Puerto Rican population lives under the federal poverty line, which is nearly four times higher than the U.S. national average of 12.8%. Puerto Rico’s childhood poverty rates are even more alarming, with 57% of children living in poverty compared to 18% of children in the U.S. Despite these extreme poverty levels, Congress has either limited or entirely excluded residents of Puerto Rico from multiple, vital federal benefit programs intended to provide our poorest and most vulnerable with the economic interventions that meet their most basic needs.

We can change this reality. Together, we can ensure that Puerto Rico is included in SNAP.

Demand Congress transition Puerto Rico into SNAP

Join our fight to transition Puerto Rico into SNAP by contacting your congress member today.

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Our work in action

Explore the deeply personal stories of community members in Puerto Rico, listen to the experts who have joined the fight to expand federal benefits to the archipelago, watch previous press conferences, and so much more directly below.

Explore past campaign resources

Browse our past Take Action For Puerto Rico! campaign resources and toolkits.

Read about our impact

In 2022, HF released a report – Building a Stronger and More Resilient Puerto Rico – detailing the impact of our recovery and resiliency efforts in Puerto Rico.

Hispanic Federation’s Recovery and Resiliency Work in Puerto Rico

In 2017, just three days after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, Hispanic Federation partnered with the Miranda Family to charter the first humanitarian relief flight transporting 22 first responders and supplies to the island.

Since then, Hispanic Federation’s work in Puerto Rico has grown and our investments have only deepened. In fact, HF has invested a historic $54 million and partnered with hundreds of local, grass roots organizations to not only address the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Fiona and other natural disasters, but advance long-term efforts, including increasing the archipelago’s reliance on renewable energy, to build a stronger and more resilient Puerto Rico.