Claudia Torrens, Author at Daily Hampshire Gazette

In this Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018 photo, Jesenia Flores holds her son Jose, both of Aibonito, Puerto Rico, as they wait to enter her mother-in-law's hotel room, in Dedham, Mass. Nearly six months after Hurricane Maria, thousands of Puerto Ricans are still staying in hotels. It's frustrating "to be cooped up here without knowing what will happen to us," the 19-year-old mother said. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

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Puerto Ricans still stranded in hotels

by Claudia Torrens Associated Press, Gisela Salomon Associated Press, and Danica Coto Associated PressMarch 7, 2018

DEDHAM, Mass. — From the lobby of a hotel on the outskirts of Boston, Jesenia Flores fills out an online job application, hoping to find work that will get her small family back to normal for the first time since Hurricane Maria flooded their home in…

Efrain Diaz Figueroa, right, walks by his sister's home destroyed in the passing of Hurricane Maria, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Monday, Oct. 9, 2017. The 70-year-old is waiting for a sister to come take him to stay with family in Boston. “I’m going to the U.S. I’ll live better there,” he said. AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa

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Puerto Ricans leave for US mainland as storm woes linger

by Gisela Salomon Associated Press, and Claudia Torrens Associated PressOctober 11, 2017

FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2016 file photo, a memorial to best friends Nisa Mickens and Kayla Cuevas is seen near the spot where their bodies were found in Brentwood, N.Y. Two suburbs on New York’s Long Island are in the grip of fear from a violent street gang with Central American ties, MS-13. The gang has been blamed for the deaths of nearly a dozen young people in blue-collar Brentwood and Central Islip since the school year began. (AP Photo/Claudia Torrens, File)

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MS-13 street gang grips Long Island suburbs in violence

by Claudia Torrens Associated Press, Frank Eltman Associated Press, and Colleen Long Associated PressApril 28, 2017

In this photo taken Dec. 1, 2016, Mexican students Yatziri Tovar, left, and Roxanna Herrera, discuss their travel plans at City College of New York. Young immigrants who live illegally in the country and are traveling abroad have been advised to return to the U.S. before Donald Trump is sworn in as president on January 20th. Some advocates, lawyers and universities say they fear that if the immigrants go overseas they might not be allowed to re-enter the U.S. because the president-elect promised during his campaign to immediately scrap the program that protects them. (AP Photo/Claudia Torrens)

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Fearing Trump crackdown, “dreamers” advised to end travel

by Claudia Torrens Associated PressDecember 11, 2016