I-9s, Immigration and Puerto Rico

After hurricanes Irma and Maria and for a while before a lot of folks left the various islands in the Caribbean. There have been diasporas from Cuba, Hispanola, and now Puerto Rico.

Anita (aka Rita Moreno, Puerto Rican) sang not very lovingly of her homeland in the the Song "America" in the musical West Side Story.

 Puerto Rico . . .
You ugly island . . .
Island of tropic diseases.
Always the hurricanes blowing,
Always the population growing . . .
And the money owing,
And the babies crying,
And the bullets flying.
I like the island Manhattan.
Smoke on your pipe and put that in! 


And the song goes on complaining about the roads, intermittent electricity,and the back and forth goes on between Rosalia and Anita:

R: When will I go back to San Juan?
A: When will you shut up and get gone?
R: Everyone there will give big cheer.
A: Everyone there will have moved here.

This diaspora may be different this time because as the song says:
"Immigrant goes to America,
Many hellos in America;
Nobody knows in America
Puerto Rico's in America!"  

Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics to West Side Story in 1957.  Some folks back then thought it was an updated version of Romeo and Juliet.  Today, I'm not sure.

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