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The Tell

Mark Cuban, Pitbull step up, but Trump administration making some hurricane evacuees pay

Evacuees on U.S.-government-coordinated transport must sign IOUs for the cost — and give up their passports as collateral

Update: The U.S. State Department provided MarketWatch with a response to this article, providing clarity on which evacuees are required to pay for their transport.

A billionaire business shark and a “worldwide” pop star have donated the use of their own planes, but the Trump administration is making U.S. citizens pay “full fare” to be evacuated from hurricane-ravaged Caribbean islands.

What’s worse, the U.S. government, in accordance with a long-standing but discretionary policy, will hold the evacuees’ passports as collateral until it gets its money.

According to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs:

“ Anyone evacuated on U.S.-government coordinated transport, including charter and military flights, must sign an Evacuee Manifest and Promissory Note (Form DS-5528) note prior to departure .”

.” “The promissory note obligates an evacuated person to repay the cost of the transportation to the U.S. government.”

The cost of the “promissory loan” is based on “the price of the last commercial one-way, full-fare (not discounted) economy ticket prior to the crisis.” In other words, the loan isn’t based on the discounted economy fare that many visitors probably found online to get to some of the islands. Read more about Hurricane Maria’s potential total damage.

That’s not all:

“Upon evacuation, a Department of State official must limit an evacuee’s passport. In order to obtain a new passport, an evacuee must arrange payment as agreed upon via the promissory note.”

If an evacuee has urgent travel but has had his or her passport limited, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s department said they should immediately contact the government to set up a plan to allow for a replacement passport. Unfortunately, loan repayments cannot currently be completed because of “ongoing emergencies” in the region.

“The Department of State is not facilitating evacuations from Puerto Rico, as it is a U.S. territory,” said Ashley Garrigus, press officer at the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs.

Garrigus directed MarketWatch to the Department of Defense, which did not immediately respond. The State Department’s website references Puerto Rico, saying that U.S. citizens don’t require a passport to travel from Puerto Rico to other parts of the U.S., as long as they have proper identification.

Other U.S. citizens being evacuated from the region are subject to the promissory loan requirement. One woman who was evacuated from St. Martin has launched a petition to remove the requirement.

Meanwhile, Mark Cuban, the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and a regular on the TV show “Shark Tank,” has reportedly lent his plane to a Mavericks player to deliver supplies to his native Puerto Rico. And Pitbull, a self-proclaimed entertainer and entrepreneur who is also known as Mr. Worldwide, reportedly sent his private plane to transport cancer patients needing chemo treatments.

And several U.S. airlines have announced the use of their planes to bring supplies to Puerto Rico. Late Monday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago, where United Continental Holdings Inc. UAL+0.62% is based, send this tweet:

The NYSE Arca Airline Index XX:XAL-0.69% has gained 1.3% since the day before Hurricane Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico, while the S&P 500 index SPX+0.53% inched up less than 0.1%.

This comes after President Trump faced a social-media backlash after tweets that some interpreted as blaming Puerto Rico for their problems:

Don’t miss: Trump: Puerto Rico is in ‘deep trouble.’

On Tuesday, he thanked San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz for praising his administration’s efforts, and he retweeted Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello thanking him:

Since Sept. 20, when Hurricane Maria made landfall on the U.S. territory, through Wednesday afternoon, President Trump has sent a total of 96 tweets, including retweets and de-tweets. Those mentioning Puerto Rico totaled seven, including the five above and this one:

In contrast, there have been 26 tweets related to the NFL players kneeling during the national anthem (including those related to disinviting Steph Curry for a visit to the White House) since Saturday morning:

Trump did say on Tuesday that he will travel to Puerto Rico to survey the damage, but not until next week.

Hurricane Maria’s Destructive Path: What You Need to Know (1:28) Hurricane Maria slammed into the Caribbean islands early this week, leaving millions of people without power. Here is what you need to know. Photo: Getty Images

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