Washington, Apr 27 (EFE).- A coalition of legislators and activist groups led by the Hispanic Federation demanded this Thursday from the United States Congress the transition of Puerto Rico to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“We cannot allow American citizens to go hungry wherever they live,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said at the news conference. “Congress must give the residents of Puerto Rico the assistance they deserve.”
Puerto Rico currently receives aid from the federal government under the Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP), with limited funding allocations, and a coalition of politicians and activists supports the approval within the Farm Bill of the island’s incorporation into SNAP.
“For more than 40 years Puerto Rico has been unfairly excluded from SNAP, which has resulted in billions of dollars in lost aid and reduced nutrition benefits for more than a million Puerto Ricans,” Gillibrand said.
The resident commissioner of Puerto Rico (a non-voting position in the House of Representatives), Jenniffer González Colón, indicated at the press conference on the Capitol grounds that “SNAP plays a significant role in strengthening food security in the whole country”.
“Unfortunately, Puerto Rico does not have access to SNAP and relies instead on NAP, a program that limits the assistance available to US citizens living on the island,” he added.
Mari Jo Laborde, president of the Food Bank of Puerto Rico, said that 40% of Puerto Ricans on the island face food insecurity “and there are United States citizens who are forced to do without personal care items because the support for food is not sufficient”.
For his part, Luis Dávila, executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, maintained that “exclusion from the SNAP program is not only unfair but also has real consequences for the people of Puerto Rico.”
“If families in Puerto Rico were allowed the same access to adequate nutrition assistance as is the case in the states, they would be better able to invest in their futures and contribute more to our nation’s economy,” he added.
The participants in the press conference represent the Coalition for Food Security in Puerto Rico, created in 2018 after hurricanes Irma and María devastated the island, and made up of more than 80 non-profit organizations, businessmen and unions.
