As Puerto Rico begins to ration water, close schools and lose its health care system under the weight of a $73 billion debt, tens of thousands of its inhabitants are fleeing to the United States, where prospects of finding a better life are dim.

Forty-five percent of Puerto Ricans live in poverty.

The Guardian reports:

“This new wave of immigration can be compared with the immigration in the 1930s and 40s,” said Edgardo González, coordinator of the Defenders of Puerto Rico, an activist group. The Great Depression and second world war spurred the so-called “Great Migration”, when tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans moved to New York every year for nearly two decades.

Now most Puerto Ricans are arriving in central Florida, González said, but many cannot find jobs or even housing. “Some might stay with family for a few weeks, but for those who don’t have family, people end up homeless because of the lack of services,” he said. …

In particular, González said that professionals with higher degrees were leaving the island in search of work, draining Puerto Rico of the talent it needs to resuscitate its economy and healthcare sector. …

“Puerto Rico continues to have people leave to the tune of 100 individuals on a daily basis,” said Díaz, who is himself of Puerto Rican descent. “We’re losing a doctor a day that is leaving the island and coming over here.