{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://soto.house.gov/media/in-the-news/puerto-rican-exodus-central-florida-begs-question-wheres-plan", "Puerto Rican Exodus to Central Florida Begs Question: Where's the Plan?", "2017-12-19", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "FL", "Darren Soto", "S001200", "soto.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "According to the U.S. Census Bureaus latest American Community Surveyoutdated after post-Maria migrationaround 320,000 Puerto Ricans live in central Florida. A significant number have come recently, in the midst of the islands economic troubles. The post-Maria migration may bring an additional 114,000 to 213,000 each year for the next two years, according to the Center for Puerto Rican Studies in New York City, changing the demographic makeup, and politics of the region for decades.\nThis sudden influx will also put pressure on housing, social services, and the job market that have yet to be fully addressed by state, local, and federal officials. Take housing: Sanz says the some of the governments immediate solutions, such as extending vouchers and finding temporary space in area hotels, may only carry through the middle of January.\nIn a region that already has an affordable housing crisisthe National Low Income Housing Coalition ranked the greater Orlando region third-worst in the nation for its availability of housing for extremely low-income residentsthousands of new residents coming every week require a much larger effort to provide shelter. Local leaders wrote to Florida governor Rick Scott asking for a task force to tackle the issue.\nPerhaps the most vexing part of the challenge is how conditions on the island dictate conditions in Florida and elsewhere: Without rebuilding the islands infrastructure and economy, more Puerto Ricans will seek better opportunity elsewhere, increasing the long-term impact. Its challenging math for leaders in central Florida, San Juan, and Washington, D.C.\n \n\tWere in a precarious position, says Democratic Congressman Darren Soto, a Puerto Rican whose district in central Florida covers areas where many new arrivals are settling. We welcome everyone, but also understand that we need to support Puerto Rico and its long term recovery, so both regions can prosper.\n\t\n \nFor the full article, click here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://soto.house.gov/media/in-the-news/puerto-rican-exodus-central-florida-begs-question-wheres-plan"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6035879962146282, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}