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U.S Democrats have demanded Donald Trump’s administration to immediately release billions of dollars in congressionally approved aid to Puerto Rico following devastating and ongoing earthquakes and aftershocks. The recent powerful earthquakes have destroyed hundreds of homes and left two-thirds of the island without electricity. Earthquakes started rocking the island in late December. It kicked off thousands of tremors, including the biggest quake to hit the island in a century. The powerful earthquake killed at least one person and caused more than $110 million in damages. The quakes have rocked the island so intensely that NASA researchers say the damage is visible from the space. It is noteworthy that Puerto Rico is still waiting on billions in federal funding after 2017’s catastrophic hurricanes.

The catastrophic hurricanes in 2017 killed more than 3,000 people in the storm & its aftermath and left more than 1.5 million people without power. On Monday, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, New York Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nydia Velazquez have demanded answers from Trump in a letter sent to the President. They urged to direct his Federal Emergency Management Agency to fully extend federal resources (the president issued on 7 January) under the most expansive reading of the disaster declaration. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said last week, Trump administration’s ongoing withholding of funds appropriated by the U.S Congress to Puerto Rico is illegal.

Pelosi’s remarks followed reports that a power plant was damaged by the 6.4-magnitude earthquake among a string of tremors that continue to shake the island. Point to be noted that a powerful earthquake hit the island on 7 January 2020. Velazquez is the first Puerto Rican woman to serve in Congress. She joined Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and several other Democrats in a letter to U.S Housing Secretary Ben Carson pleading for the immediate and urgent publication of materials for the release of $8.3 billion in grants earmarked for the island’s recovery amid Hurricane Maria’s devastation.