President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday to give $19 million in grants to schools that serve Hispanic students.
The University of Puerto Rico’s Rio Piedras Campus received $5 million of the share, with four other schools across Florida, Illinois, and Texas sharing the rest. This money is part of the Education Department’s Research and Development Infrastructure Grant Program, which has a fund of about $49 million to split among historically black, tribally controlled, and minority-serving colleges and universities. This latest allotment comes with less than a week until Election Day.
Since Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took office, Puerto Rico’s colleges and universities have received over $1.1 billion in government funding, behind Florida, Texas, and California in the top five recipient states. The administration awarded over $16 billion nationwide.
This comes as the Harris campaign has scrambled to rally Latino voters in recent days since former President Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden. There, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made a joke about Puerto Rico that was poorly received. UFC fighter Jorge Masvidal said he believed Harris’s record was worse than the joke. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona vaguely referred to the joke and this new executive order in a post to X.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“Our island is filled with incredibly talented people that build patria every day,” Cardona wrote on Tuesday. “I am very proud of being a Puerto Rican and serving an Administration that has put Puerto Rico front and center.”
Hispanic support for the Democratic Party has dwindled with each election cycle. Former President Barack Obama received 67% of the Hispanic vote in 2012, until former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton garnered 66%, down to President Joe Biden’s 59%.
