About 7,000 Micronesian residents turned out for this historic event
The team representing the Compact of Free Association (COFA) for Micronesians in the continental United States achieved another milestone, echoing their success in Texas several years ago.
Micronesians are part of that broader Pasifika community, often arriving through migration connected to the COFA.
On February 27, 2026, the team led several thousand Micronesians to Utah’s capital to bring COFA issues to the forefront for lawmakers and the local community. The meeting highlighted the importance of the agreement between the U.S. and the three sovereign Micronesian nations: the Republic of Palau (ROP), the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI).
“We called it the ‘Utah COFA Event’,” said FSM Consul General Dominic Maluchmai, who led the organizing efforts. “The goal was to bring awareness, educate our friends in Utah about COFA, and provide a networking opportunity for the host government and the COFA community.”
Eldon Alik, Marshallese Consul General, confirmed the massive turnout of approximately 7,000 residents: “We had a great turnout!”
He had to rush back to Salem, Ore., for a Marshallese Nuclear Victim Remembrance Day that very Sunday also.
This gathering was of monumental significance, especially considering that Utah’s Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population is roughly 50,000 (about 1.6% of the state population), according to National Pacific Islanders Network (NPIEN), a non-profit organization to promote community and educational excellence. Utah’s population has reached approximately 3.5 million as of early 2026, Kem C. Calmer Institute, University of Utah.
This growing demographic could represent a significant and emerging voice, flashing a wielding power on the state’s voting landscape. So, getting the support of the local government was easy. But what is not, is the team facing, with their local counterparts, challenges head-on later in their future endeavors.
COFA migrants from the FAS could face significant U.S. challenges, like other states in Arkansas, Hawaii and Oregon (the states with the highest FAS population); “health disparities due to systemic inequities, including higher rates of chronic conditions and limited access to care, often resulting in them being more likely to be uninsured than non-Hispanic whites. Despite having lawful status, they face ‘perpetual deportability’ and, until recently, faced restricted access to safety-net programs like Medicaid. While changes in 2020-2024 have restored some eligibility, systemic barriers in access, care, and legal security continue to create severe health inequalities,” according to the National Institutes of Health.
They could also “face significant challenges due to their unique, ‘liminal’ legal status as non-citizens who can live and work indefinitely without visas. Key issues include limited access to federal benefits, high rates of poverty, limited English proficiency, and increased risk of deportation for infractions, compounded by health disparities.”
They could also “suffer higher chronic disease rates (e.g., diabetes, hypertension) and navigate complex, sometimes conflicting, federal and state benefits eligibility,” according to the National library in Bethesda, Maryland.
The event also featured Hersey Kyota, the Ambassador of Palau to the U.S. and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Washington, D.C. Despite arriving directly from travel, Ambassador Kyota spoke warmly to the crowd. “I don’t have anything prepared, but I feel very proud seeing this crowd from the COFA nation,” he remarked, adding a lighthearted joke about the population sizes of the respective nations that drew cheers from the audience. He concluded by thanking the attendees in the vernacular of all three nations: “Mensulang (PW), komol dada (RMI), and kamorale (FSM)!”
When asked why Utah was selected for this event, Maluchmai noted that while other states have larger COFA populations, the Utah community is exceptionally organized and capable of mobilizing quickly.
Ambassadors Jackson Soram (FSM) and Charles Paul (RMI) were also in attendance, joining Ambassador Kyota and Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre M. Henderson to discuss mutual interests and establish long-term partnerships.
The event served its core purpose: to visit and educate local representatives on the COFA status, which formally established these nations as sovereign partners of the United States.
The COFA agreement stems from the unique, long-standing, and often strained relationship between the US and the Pacific islands, which involved significant nuclear testing in the region. The COFA governs the relationships between the U.S. and the RMI, FSM, and ROP, collectively known as the Freely Associated States (FAS).
Located roughly 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii, the FAS play a role in supporting the U.S. security presence in the Pacific Islands region at a time of increasing strategic competition between the U.S. and its allies, on the one hand, and the People’s Republic of China, on the other.
Prior to the Compacts, RMI, FSM, and Palau were districts of the former U.S.-administered United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI), established after World War II. In pursuit of sovereign independence, initially, the body of the TTPI splintered into four major groups— the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau.
The U.S. offer of territorial and commonwealth status was taken up by CNMI. The other three refused. Instead, RMI and FSM signed the Compacts of Free Association with the U.S. in 1982. Palau followed suit in 1994.
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