I Lost Everything in Puerto Rico—Now I’m a First-Time Voter in Pennsylvania

Watching Hurricanes Helene and Milton destroy the lives and homes of so many people brings back painful memories for me, memories that never fully left my consciousness.

I’m Puerto Rican, and I lived through Hurricane Maria on the island. I saw how the ravine opened, swallowing my wooden house and everything in it.

I watched with my aunt, terrified, wondering if my mother was dead or alive—she was in another part of the country at the time.

There are almost no words to describe what it’s like to see nature take everything from you. “Sad” is not accurate; a better word might be “devastated.”

My mother raised us alone. She fought to get us through. She gave us everything we had, and then we lost everything in the hurricane.

Well, at the time we thought we lost everything, but reflecting back now I know that wasn’t true. We were alive. And we had a chance to make a better future.

Four years ago, I had to leave the island. I was pregnant, and my daughter’s father couldn’t find work in Puerto Rico. We needed everything to start over; we were living in tents outside. We had no water, no electricity.

After Donald Trump came here and threw paper towels at us, like we were animals, we knew we weren’t going to get any help to stay.

I’m grateful I had the opportunity to move and to make York, Pennsylvania my new home. Although I’ve only been here four years, I feel accepted by everyone, even though my English isn’t perfect and it’s been difficult to get a good job.

I feel like I’ve lived here forever, but I still think about Puerto Rico every day. On the island, we didn’t have the right to vote in U.S. general elections. Here, we do, and I think we have the responsibility to use it.

Over the past several months, I’ve been working as a canvasser in Pennsylvania with CASA in Action. Although I am just one person, with one vote, I have the power to talk to other people about the importance and privilege of voting.

It feels good to encourage other Puerto Ricans and people like me to vote, and to educate them about where the two candidates’ stand on the issues we care about.

Kamala Harris does not talk to us like Trump does. She would not throw paper towels at our problems. She will be the first female president of the United States, and she has a platform that I am firmly behind.

Improving our salaries; improving our health care. Taking care of people when we’re dealing with the unexpected things that change our lives in an instant, like a hurricane. Being part of a community, together.

Vice President Harris has been raised and educated by her mother to be a strong woman, a woman who would do anything for her family. Just like I am doing with my daughter.

In contrast, we already know what Trump thinks about us and how he sees us. Disposable people, like paper towels.

I’ve seen people trying to pick themselves up after a natural disaster without any government support. Dying because they can’t buy medicine, while Trump flies around in a fancy plane and plays golf.

I can’t change what former president Trump does, but I can do my part to advance my family and community.

My hope for the future is a better way of life; less stress and more security for my young daughter. No more tragedies. The ability to take care of one another. And I, as one of Pennsylvania’s newest leaders, will stop at nothing to do that.

This election is not just about my daughter and our community; our family and our freedoms. It’s a choice between helping working families climb out of poverty, or more tax breaks and bigger profits for corporations who are only concerned about their bottom line.

I finally realized the immense privilege I have in the right to vote, and that people are counting on me to use it. That’s why I’m canvassing in Pennsylvania to help elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. I think it’s the right thing to do.

As a Puerto Rican now living in the United States, I understand the privilege that it is to have the right to vote. We cannot let those who do not care about our well-being decide our futures.

Join me in supporting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to lead the great United States.

Jackeline Nazario is a Puerto Rican first-time voter living in Pennsylvania. She is a 24-year-old mother to a beautiful four-year-old daughter, for whom she is voting. She is canvassing six days a week with CASA in Action to mobilize Latino, Black, and other voters.

All views expressed are the author’s own.

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