In The News

More than one million. That is the number of applications for financial assistance that have been submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) by residents of Puerto Rico needing home repairs. Congressman Adriano Espaillat has introduced the Housing Victims of Major Disasters Act, which is designed to ease requirements on what information homeowners must share with FEMA in order to receive money for home repairs. At a press conference in Manhattan on May 21, Espaillat noted that most of the rejections are due to residents being unable to prove that they own their homes. “These properties have been passed on from generation to generation, and many of them lack deeds or other legal documentation that will establish their ownership,” said Espaillat. The agency stated that it would be the final extension of the program, a deadline that Espaillat took issue with.

In an effort to prevent future foreign meddling in elections, Facebook has begun rolling out a fix: Anyone who wants to buy a political or issue ad in the United States must have a Social Security number along with a U.S. passport or valid driver’s license. “This is excluding an important part of the nation who are being affected by its policies,” Rep. Adriano Espaillat, a New York Democrat who was undocumented in the U.S. in his youth, told VICE News.

Los congresistas Jenniffer González Colón y Adriano Espaillat abogaron por una excención a la República Dominicana de los aranceles al aluminio y acero. Según indican, lo hacen con el objetivo de asegurar que Puerto Rico cuente con los recursos necesarios en la etapa de reconstrucción.

Continuing his call to ensure affordable housing for New York City residents and communities around the nation, Representative Adriano Espaillat (D-NY-13), announces a new bill that would require the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to require pass-through leases in the event that tenants are displaced from their federally-subsidized housing. “Affordable housing is essential to a community that thrives, yet many residents are being priced out of their homes as market rates are no longer affordable,” said Rep. Adriano Espaillat.