BOSTON -- Nearly 1,700 Puerto Rican hurricane evacuees living in hotels across the U.S. are awaiting a federal judge's decision on their next home.
A hearing has taken place on another federal judge's restraining order temporarily blocking their evictions.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Hillman in Massachusetts heard plaintiff representatives and government attorneys Monday during a hearing held by teleconference but didn't issue an immediate ruling.
Judge Leo Sorokin of U.S. District Court in Springfield, Mass., granted the temporary restraining order on Saturday. It extends the evacuees' time in hotels through Thursday.
Sorokin says ending federal housing assistance vouchers could irreparably harm desperate hurricane survivors with nowhere else to go.
The plaintiffs' motion is to continue and extend the restraining order for at least 30 days pending a formal hearing for the court to consider testimony and other evidence.
Puerto Ricans began arriving after Hurricane Maria last September. Their Federal Emergency Management Agency housing vouchers originally were set to expire at midnight June 30.
FEMA said the number of families in the agency's housing program has decreased from 1,722 on Saturday to 420 on Monday.
FEMA attorneys said on the call that the program has been extended four times, and that Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello, who must request the extension of the program, agreed in May that no further extensions would be applied for.
Requests for comment from Rossello's office have not been returned."
A Section on 07/03/2018