Following the impact of Hurricane Maria on the Caribbean in late September, Puerto Rico, an island of U.S. territory in the Caribbean, experienced massive power outages, food shortages and water contamination in addition to property destruction and loss of human life.

At best, the Trump administration’s response to this situation has been lacking and verges on cruelty. His relief efforts appear questionable and shallow, such as his odd dedication of the Presidents Cup golf trophy to hurricane victims and throwing paper towel rolls into a crowd during a state visit to Puerto Rico.

Puerto Ricans may be full citizens under U.S. law, but federal efforts, or lack thereof, have demonstrated that Puerto Ricans are not being treated as equal citizens. Hurricane Maria is just one recent example of how residents of the island are not treated as full Americans.

Just like the residents of other U.S. territories, Puerto Ricans are not allowed to vote in presidential elections and lack representation in Congress. While Puerto Ricans aren’t subject to a federal income tax like the other territories, they do pay all other federal taxes such as Social Security and estate taxes and contribute billions every year to the federal treasury. Nevertheless, what they have gotten back in the form of aid has hardly been worth the money they’re paying into the system.

Puerto Rico’s main issue in recent years has been a debt that exceeds $70 billion. Puerto Rico can’t file for traditional bankruptcy under Title III of the PROMESA law passed in 2016, which makes it harder for Puerto Rico to pay off its debt. Even though poor decisions by Puerto Rican leaders led to this debt, the U.S. is still responsible for doing what it can to restore solvency — and ensure it won’t happen again.

Another reason to support Puerto Rican statehood is its high rate of military participation. In fact, when the U.S. entered World War I, less than 20 years after Puerto Rico was ceded to the U.S., 236,000 Puerto Ricans registered for the draft and over 20,000 ended up serving. Since then, countless more from the island have put their lives on the line in every major conflict the U.S. has participated in.

In terms of civic activity, despite only being allowed to participate in the primaries for presidential elections, Puerto Rico’s voter turnout rate is only slightly lower than the national average (52.8 percent, compared to 60 percent nationally).

Additionally, in a 2016 referendum, 97 percent voted in support of full statehood for Puerto Rico. The current governor of Puerto Rico even affiliates himself politically with the New Progressive party, a political party dedicated to achieving statehood for Puerto Rico.

The only thing standing between Puerto Rico and its statehood is politics in Congress. Adding Puerto Rico as a state in the union would disadvantage Republicans by adding millions of Democratic-leaning voters to the electorate.

It is clear that Puerto Ricans, by and large, consider themselves to be Americans, as shown by their impressive rate of military service to the U.S. and overwhelming support for full statehood. Unfortunately, the mainland, both government and population, has not reciprocated in full.

This may be because that politicians do not see the value in helping Puerto Ricans — Puerto Rican votes don’t influence election as greatly as votes from citizens who live in places with full statehood. They are also seen as not fully American by many since Spanish is Puerto Rico’s primary language.

It is well established that the federal government denies Puerto Ricans the same rights as their fellow Americans, but, according to a recent poll of 2,200 adults by Morning Consult, only 54 percent of Americans know that Puerto Rican-born persons are American citizens.

Puerto Ricans have contributed to the U.S. economy, they have risked their lives to defend their country, and they have even represented the U.S. at the Olympics, despite having the option to represent Puerto Rico alone.

The bottom line: Puerto Ricans are Americans too. And they need to be treated as such by a country that has, for far too long, ignored their role in the American story.