Citing "deficiencies" in federal assistance to Puerto Rican evacuees, a judge ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to extend the temporary hotel voucher program.
Hundreds of displaced families in Florida, and nearly 1,700 across the country, could benefit from the temporary court order. For many, it was a last minute reprieve from having to leave their temporary hotel rooms at 11 a.m. Sunday.
Hurricane Maria survivors under the Transitional Sheltering Assistance program can now stay in their hotels at least until Wednesday, according to the ruling.
The temporary injunction issued Saturday night was prompted by a lawsuit filed in Massachusetts by the advocacy organizations LatinoJustice and Vamos4PR, and several affected families. They are suing FEMA, its administrator William Brock Long and regional director Alejandro De La Campa.
Puerto Ricans who fled Hurricane Maria's destruction built a community at a Super 8 in Kissimmee. As of now, they have to leave it this week.
U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin said the end of the voucher program would have "possible human consequences" and would "drain on other public resources."
FEMA declined to comment on the lawsuit. But in a statement Sunday, the agency confirmed that it was working to notify hotels to extend the aid until July 5 to comply with the order.
FEMA spokesperson Dasha Castillo said the agency was also extending transportation aid until Aug. 30 to cover travel costs for families who want to return to Puerto Rico.
The agency has previously said that activating the Disaster Housing Assistance Program, which has been pushed for by some Democrats and Puerto Rico officials, would present "additional complexities and red tape" for survivor families.
"DHAP can become an additional burden for disaster survivors as it requires them to find a rental unit before they can be assisted by the local Public Housing Agency," according to an earlier statement from FEMA.
Kira Romero-Craft, a managing attorney with LatinoJustice in Orlando, said the lawsuit was filed on the eve of the final deadline because she said litigation is always used "as the last option."
"We kept pushing our elected officials," she said. "But unfortunately no one came through."
Romero-Craft said LatinoJustice was suing for an opportunity to let families stay under the voucher program for at least six more months, and for FEMA to review the cases of people who they believe have particular and special needs.
She said that although many Puerto Rican families have been able to find apartments or decided to return to Puerto Rico, there is a smaller group on the mainland that is still facing homelessness.
"There are folks that are sick, elderly, retired. ... It's a small percentage and they need our help."
The groups are also claiming that the aid that has been rejected for Puerto Ricans on the mainland 10 months after Maria is unequal to the aid provided for survivors of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy.
"These folks are the ones that are living paycheck to paycheck ... it's completely unacceptable," Romero-Craft said. "Why haven't the officials, after 10 months, (done) what they're supposed to do?"
