Puerto Rico tells Kamala her 'long overdue' visit is just a 'political stunt': Harris faces fury from island still crippled by earthquakes and hurricanes over trip touting Biden's 'historic investments'

Vice President Kamala Harris plans to visit Puerto Rico Friday, even as she and President Joe Biden struggle to keep their promises to the disaster-torn island.

The White House said Harris plans to highlight how Biden's agenda was helping bring good jobs to Puerto Rico, even as they struggle with basic infrastructure problems.

Puerto Rico suffered catastrophic damage from the 2017 Hurricanes Irma and Maria and earthquakes in 2019 and 2020. Although record levels of reconstruction funding have been passed for the island, many of the funds remain tied up in bureaucratic gridlock.

Only eight percent of the $23 billion in available federal funds has been spent on reconstruction, according to a Government Accountability Office audit released in February 2024.

Vice President Kamala Harris left Washington, DC to visit Puerto Rico on Friday

In 2020, Kamala Harris vowed a 'more compassionate' response to the island to help rebuild infrastructure

The report noted that 'a substantial amount of permanent work remains' on the island and that Puerto Rico had only spent $1.8 billion of their allotted funding. Much of the funding requires authorization from FEMA to spend.

The island continues to suffer rolling electricity blackouts as permanent power grid upgrades remain unfinished. 

Puerto Rico’s power plant generation has only worsened in recent years, according to reports, from 52 percent to 42 percent capacity. 

Harris' visit takes place as Democrats are desperate to maintain their hold on the Latino demographic for the 2024 election.

A February CBS News poll showed Biden's support among Hispanics has dropped by 12 points since 2020, from 65 percent to 53 percent.

White House communications director Brian Fallon shared a news story on social media on Friday emphasizing the political calculus behind the trip as a way to 'reach out to Latino voters.'

Sen. William Villafañe, a member of the New Progressive Party, said Harris' visit was 'notable' and 'long overdue' but that 'mere recognition is not enough.'

Villafañe told the DailyMail.com that Puerto Rico residents remained disadvantaged, lacking access to government welfare programs like Medicare Part B enrollment, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Medicare Extra Help for prescriptions, all the while suffering from an exodus of doctors from the island because of lower government reimbursement rates.

'This visit should serve as a wake-up call for bipartisan action to hold the administration accountable and deliver tangible solutions that prioritize the well-being of all American citizens, including those in Puerto Rico,' he said.

He also promoted the island's statehood admission bill, which he argued was critically important to Puerto Rico residents.

'Puerto Rico has voted three times to become a state. The Administration and Congress must take action to ensure equal protection and equity across all federal programs,' Villafañe said.

Harris' visit takes place ahead of Puerto Rico's 2024 Democratic presidential primary held on April 28. 

During the 2020 presidential campaign, Both Biden and Harris accused former President Donald Trump's of failing to help the island's recover, vowing a more compassionate and competent response.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has made several trips to the island to promote green energy projects in Puerto Rico.

Earthquake damage in Ponce, Puerto Rico in 2020

Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm has focused on making the island's power grid 100 percent clean energy by 2050

Granholm is focused on the island's goal to make the power grid 100 percent clean energy by 2050, even as existing fossil fuel powered generation infrastructure suffers. 

'Despite, and because, and amid the heartbreak, Puerto Ricans also saw an amazing opportunity to build a new energy system that was resilient, and independent, and clean,' she said during a visit to San Juan, Puerto Rico in February.

The vice president's visit will take place three and a half years since she penned an op-ed for the Tampa Bay Times promising 'a full recovery and rebuilding Puerto Rico’s resilient infrastructure.'

'We see you, we hear you, and every day, we stand with you,' Harris promised, adding that she and Biden would, 'reverse the damage that remains three years after Hurricane Maria, and help usher in a brighter future.'

Writer Susanne Ramirez de Arellano described Harris' visit as 'farce and political theater to Puerto Ricans like me living on the island' in a column for Bloomberg Opinion.

She argued that Harris was not there to help the island but to motivate millions of Puerto Rico natives who had moved to important swing states on the mainland.

Carlos Mercader, the former Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration who lives in Puerto Rico, said that Harris' visit would was 'inconsequential' to the election.

'She is not popular with Hispanics, including with the Puerto Rican community,' Mercader said to DailyMail.com. 'The only place this could have an impact is in Central Florida and I expect it will happen the same that went through in 2022 where most Puerto Ricans who voted supported conservatives, as in Rubio and DeSantis.'

Mercader now hosts a show where he focuses on local and national issues important to Puerto Rico from a conservative political perspective. 

Edwin Francisco, the chairman of the Puerto Rico Young Republican Federation acknowledged that Harris' visit was important but argued it was more of a 'political stunt.'

'She will be in Puerto Rico like 6 hours and she will forget about Puerto Rico like Biden’s Administration did when he was in Florida at the Presidential Campaign in 2020 supporting Statehood,' he said.

Francisco defended the Trump administration's response to Hurricane Maria, noting that they allocated the largest amount of federal funds to the reconstruction of Puerto Rico. He was not convinced that Harris' visit would actually make much of a real difference on the island.

'The VP’s standard operation procedure is to visit, wave and smile but don’t accomplish anything,' he said.