Puerto Ricans, trying to escape economic crisis, seeking refuge in FL

{AGP ha hecho TODO lo posible porque los Puertorriqueños se muden, pero los que se están mudando son los mejor preparados. Se mudan unos 50,000 cada año, 4,167 cada mes, 139 al día, y dejan unas 12,500 unidades de vivienda en el inventario creciente que ha devaluado las propiedades inmuebles 40-60%. Alaska, Hawaii, y los países que se han unido al Mercado Común Europeo han multiplicado su desarrollo de 8 a 10 veces, sus propiedades inmuebles 5 veces en los primeros cinco años. Todo indica que sin querer AGP lleva a Puerto Rico en forma obligada a la Estadidad que es Mil Veces que el ELA Colonial. Esto es posible porque Luis Fortuño forjó el triunfo de la Estadidad en el Plebiscito del 2012. }

Puerto Ricans, trying to escape economic crisis, seeking refuge in FL

Posted By Marianela Toledo On September 27, 2013 @ 10:27 am

By Marianela Toledo | Florida Watchdog

MIAMI — More and more Puerto Ricans are moving to the U.S. to escape an economic crisis that’s nearing its eighth year.

In 2010, about 3.7 million ^[1] Puerto Ricans were living in the United States. In two years that number jumped to 4.9 million ^[2], which would mean more native Puerto Ricans are living in the U.S. than there are Puerto Ricans living in Puerto Rico.

USA

MOVING OUT: A recent Census report shows more Puerto Ricans are living in U.S. than in their home country.

Jorge Duany, Ph.D., is director of the Cuban Research Institute and a professor of anthropology at Florida International University. He said the people leaving the island are generally the well-educated and highly skilled.

This isn’t lost on Florida Gov. Rick Scott ^[4], who cited a U.S. Census report saying the Sunshine State leads the nation in migrations from Puerto Rico.

While the exodus may benefit states such as Florida, it’s making life tougher for people in Puerto Rico.

For starters, Duany said, transplants aren’t sending much of their earnings back to the island.

“In 2006 we did a survey attempting to measure the impact of migrant remittances and, at that, the result was that only 5 percent of respondents in Puerto Rico received some type remittance from relatives in the United States. It is contradictory that the migration rate does not correspond with that of remittances.”

In fact, Puerto Rico is not even on the World Bank’s list ^[5]of countries getting remittances from people in the U.S.

According to Duany, U.S. federal aid is keeping the island country economically afloat. Unlike India, China and Mexico — three countries whose remittances add considerably to their respective GNPs — remittances to Puerto Rico are comparatively paltry.

PADILLA: The Puerto Rico governor has recently re-opened the formerly closed Puerto Rican Federal Affairs Administration regional office in Kissimmee, part of an effort to “Keep, Maintain and Strengthen ties” with the nearly 900,000 Puerto Ricans living in the state of Florida.”

“Federal aid translates into food stamps, student loans, housing assistance, Social Security and veterans’ pensions. These federal transfers have increased dramatically in recent years, while private remittances have remained stagnant, “said Duany.

Sergio M. Marxuach is director of Public Policy at the Center for a New Economy in Puerto Rico. In a September study, “Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,” he wrote, “An objective analysis of this report leads us to conclude that the tax base of our socioeconomic system has eroded and continues to erode significantly. The central government and some public corporations are basically insolvent.”

Marxuach was not immediately available to comment.

According to a report by Reuters ^[6], nowhere else does the flight of professionals to other lands show up more than in collected sales taxes, which has fallen 31 percent in five years. Puerto Rico’s public debt has skyrocketed to 97 percent of the GDP.

This, in turn, has caused municipal bonds and debt ratings to fall dramatically, even flirting with junk -bond status ^[7], i.e., Detroit’s debt rating before bankruptcy — a “very real possibility” for Puerto Rico, Duany said.

Puerto Rico Gov. Garcia Padilla is pushing an overhaul of the public employee pension system and is working to strengthen public corporations.

Padilla has re-opened the formerly closed Puerto Rican Federal Affairs Administration regional ^[8]office in Kissimmee, an effort, he said, to “Keep, Maintain and Strengthen ties” with the nearly 900,000 Puerto Ricans in Florida.

Differences between Padilla and Pedro Pierluisi, the resident commissioner in Washington, D.C., have hindered efforts for U.S. statehood, asneither can agree on whether Puerto Rico should be admitted ^[9] to the U.S.

Pierluisi, who supports statehood, filed a lawsuit ^[10]against the governor, accusing him of using public money to hire lobbyists to persuade voters to favor independence and thwart November’s proposal for U.S. statehood.

Contact Marianela Toledo at Marianela.Toledo@FloridaWatchdog.org ^[11] twitter @mtoledoreporter

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