New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says the federal government failed to adequately respond after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico last year, and he plans to file a lawsuit against President Trump on behalf of displaced Puerto Ricans.
Cuomo says it took three weeks for the first supplies from the federal government to reach the island after Maria struck. He compared that to the response to hurricanes that hit Florida and Houston.
“Puerto Rico got less help, and less attention, than Florida or Texas…Because they look a little different, their language is a little different, for some reason they get treated differently than Florida and Texas. That my friends, is discriminatory, it’s ignorant, and it’s anti-American…Puerto Ricans are American citizens!”
Cuomo says there are 11,000 displaced Puerto Ricans now living in New York. A report last week found that almost 3,000 people died as a result of the storm.
It is not clear when the suit will be filed or what damages it will seek.
