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Show 5 HUMAN RIGHTS panel of three state justices from outside California investi rejected charges of wrongdoing made by California Gov ernor Reagan against the California Rural Legal Aid Assistance project. • A gated and The few federal programs not marked by obvious neglect of the Spanish-speaking have had a dismal record and have seldom con sulted with the very group they • most to help. report released October 31, 1970, the Rural Housing Alli charged that government migrant housing programs were al a total failure. In nine years, only 4,146 units for families and In ance were a 3,307 for individuals have been financed.v= Congress formed a Cabinet Committee on Opportunities for Spanish Speaking People but the President allowed an eight month vacancy in the position of chairman in the Committee's crucial first years.23 • • Cabinet-level meetings in which the Commitee could assist the government in policy making are stipulated in the law which cre ated this committee but have never taken place.> The peculiar problems of the Spanish-speaking population of Puerto Rico and the many Puerto Ricans who have left their home to find employment in the United States are largely ignored in federal government programs. The current per capita income in Puerto Rico is only $1,426 an nually, substantially below that of any state and almost half of that of Mississippi, the poorest of the 50 states." • • Puerto Rico is specifically excluded from nine federal programs, including the food stamp and school milk programs, and a portion of the Social Security system. 26 • Puerto Rican communities in this country as well as in Puerto Rico seldom benefit from any fund-matching programs and yet re ceive no help from other programs to make up for this deficiency. • In addition, there is no reason to believe that the poor condi tions under which many Puerto Rican-Americans and native Puerto Ricans are living will improve soon. The current recession in the United States is felt as a depression in Puerto Rico, causing migra tion to New York again." City and other parts of the country to increase |
