The Latino community has stepped up to help Puerto Ricans displaced by Hurricane Maria and shown what American greatness looks like. The president should take note.

By Janet Murguía, UnidosUS President and CEO

Last week — eight months after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico — Harvard University’s School of Public Health published a study in the New England Journal of Medicine that linked 4,645 deaths to this tragedy. Based on analyses, the hurricane may have caused as many as 8,500 deaths on the island in 2017, far outstripping the official death toll of 64.

The study found that the average family spent more than two months without water and three months without electricity. One in three families had problems accessing medical care, and hospitals and pharmacies were overwhelmed, which is the primary reason the death toll is so much higher than official estimates.

Like many other Americans, we at UnidosUS are not only deeply anguished by this staggeringly high number, we also feel betrayed — by our president and by our government. The president continues to turn his back on his fellow Americans and even worse, refuses to see, hear, feel, and acknowledge the impact that his ignorance and ineptitude has caused on the island. And in the week since the study, the president has overlooked calls from members of Congress, the media, religious leaders, concerned Latinos, and other Americans to assert the generous and compassionate American leadership that has been the hallmark of our country in times of crisis.

We were among the many voices who called out the Trump administration’s highly inadequate response to the crisis in the weeks and months after the hurricane struck. We noted that it took a chef from Washington, DC — José Andrés — to marshal resources here and on the island to feed a hot meal to 100,000 people a day when FEMA could not.

And we well remember President Trump’s own often obscene behavior during the crisis. Three weeks after the storm hit, when nearly 100% of the island had no power, President Trump tweeted that “we can’t be in Puerto Rico forever.” He also tweeted that the “Puerto Ricans want everything to be done for them.” And in just the few hours he spent on the island, he managed to say that Puerto Ricans should be happy that they were not in “a real catastrophe like Katrina,” that the relief effort was throwing “our budget out of whack” and ended his visit by throwing paper towels into a crowd.

The president’s actions demonstrate that he doesn’t see Puerto Ricans as fellow Americans, or fellow human beings. His agenda of hate and harm is being carried out with Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans, immigrants, and the entire Latino community as the principal targets — and our community is taking note of Trump’s abominable behavior.

We mourn the 4,645. They were mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, abuelas, padrinos. They had names, like Ivette León of Caguas, who the Washington Post reported died when an ambulance couldn’t reach her in time because of inoperative traffic lights. And they were Americans who we will honor not with more hate, or more ignorance, or horrendous behavior, but with compassion and generosity to their families in Puerto Rico and on the mainland. For every demeaning and nasty tweet, we will push back with double the number of stories from our Affiliates that show what American greatness looks like.

Latino Leadership in Orlando has helped more than 9,100 relocated families. Sociedad Latina in Boston is working with partners to help relocating families find housing, employment, learn English, and obtain medical services. APM in Philadelphia has leveraged its partnerships and expertise to obtain housing and health care for families from Puerto Rico. El Centro de Servicios Sociales in Lorain, Ohio, has developed a resource booklet for new families, along with mental health, housing, and support programs. Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio (CLUES) in St. Paul, Minnesota, has launched a pilot program to assist families with mental health and financial empowerment services. And the Ibero American Action League in Rochester, New York, has helped settle 3,200 families from Puerto Rico to date in the area.

That is the kind of leadership that saves lives. The president should take note.