“If this eviction goes forth, it will do irreparable harm to people who have already suffered so much,” said Denise Collazo, chief of staff for Faith In Action, an interfaith group that has been working with evacuees, in a statement released by LatinoJustice.

“Thousands of people lost homes, jobs, cars, places to go to school, and are suffering unnecessarily. FEMA can end this by activating the Disaster Housing Assistance Program (DHAP) now. Instead, FEMA is offering one-way plane tickets to send people back to a place that is in no way ready to receive them.”

FEMA’s temporary sheltering assistance program was initially designed to last only two weeks, but was extended repeatedly as conditions on the island failed to improve. Only last week could Puerto Rican officials say that 96 percent of the island had access to clean, safe drinking water — months after the storm.