Judge orders extension of housing for hurricane evacuees like Puerto Rico, FEMA to ignite spat

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the federal government to continue providing housing assistance until the end of the month for hundreds of Puerto Ricans who were evacuated after Hurricane Maria. The decision comes as the administration of Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rosselló and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have embarked on a public debate over whether or not Puerto Rico was asking for it. agency an extension of the stay of evacuees

. District Judge Timothy Hillman ruled on Tuesday that the temporary dismissal would remain in place until midnight on July 23, giving evacuees up to the time of departure on July 24. Approximately 950 residents live in hotels and other FEMA housing.

the government agency because they were going to be expelled on July 1. FEMA had argued that the Puerto Rican government had not requested an extension of the program and that Rosselló had accepted the expiry of the program.

But Héctor M. Pesquera, Puerto Rico's public security secretary, said in a statement that FEMA's statement was "false". He pointed to a letter from FEMA on May 3 in which the agency agreed to extend the program until June 30 and stated that "this will be the last extension of the TSA program and no further extension will be considered. " FEMA did not respond Tuesday when asked for an answer to Pesquera

Hillman, the judge in the case, asked the two parties more information about the dispute in his decision on Tuesday.

"I find that further information on the issues would be useful to the Court", he wrote in his decision. "I would like the parties to look into the implication of the refusal of the Puerto Rican governor to request an extension of the benefits of the ASD program."

The judge said that he would make a final order here on July 23.

David Begnaud Contributed to this Report