Salt Lake City, Utah – In a joint effort between the FSM Embassy in D.C. and the FSM Consulate General in Portland, FSM Ambassador to the United States Jackson T. Soram along with Dominic R. Maluchmai, Acting Consul General who is based in Portland, and in partnership with FSM community leaders in Utah, held various meetings with citizens and Utah government leaders and officials as part of the joint FSM Embassy and FSM Consulate General Citizens’ Outreach and Advocacy Program (COAP) for the State of Utah during the week of September 8 – 11, 2025.
Ambassador Soram and Acting CG Maluchmai met with staff of the Governor’s Office, members of the Utah State Legislature, key Medicaid officials from the State Department of Health and Human Services. While scheduled to meet with Lt. Governor Diedre Henderson, the tragic shooting event in Utah which garnered immediate national attention prompted schedule changes allowing a sit-down with Mike Mower, Senior Advisor, Community & Intergovernmental Relations at the Office of the Governor.
In their meetings with Senator Karen Kwan, Senator Luz Escamilla and Rep. Jake Fitisemanu of the Utah State Legislature, the discussion on key issues such as access to public assistance programs or a public benefit, such as Real ID, that is provided by the government and language and steps to address them was mutual, positive and encouraging. At the end of the discussion, there was a real sense of working together for the benefit of the community members.
The meeting with officials from the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office and Medicaid Office was productive and further displayed a similar real sense of working together to support FSM citizens across the State of Utah. As part of the Community Engagement and Awareness effort, a member and leader, Ms. Elina Fred, of FSM community of Utah working group joined some of the meetings as a community resource advocate to provide community perspectives and plant the seed of partnership between the governments and our citizens advocacy groups in Utah.
Throughout the meetings, Ambassador Soram raised awareness on the Compact of Free Association between the United States and the Freely Associated States (FAS). He presented various issues for discussions including support to the FSM Citizens in the State of Utah and how FSM citizens can better integrate themselves into and contribute to their respective communities in Utah. They also discussed eligible programs and benefits such as Medicaid and in-state tuition, REAL ID, as well as future plans to help awareness on the presence of FSM citizens residing in the State of Utah. Ambassador Soram and his team also raised the need to provide interpreters or translate documents such as driver’s license test and guidelines to social benefits.
The government officials were also very supportive of all the issues raised, highlighting their ongoing social network programs, and encouraging FSM citizens to partner with them in implementing some of these programs. They also highlighted and underscored the important role of the Utah Consular Corps in supporting interests of foreign nationals and how that can potentially benefit FSM citizens living in Utah and FSM in general.
Ambassador Soram was also invited to an on-campus lecture at the Bringham Young University (BYU) where he spoke to an engaging student audience on FSM history, its political and development aspirations, and the Compact of Free Association with the United States. Here, he met with some members of the BYU community who have served in the FSM for some years through the volunteer work of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints.
The week-long COAP wrapped up with a meeting with citizens who shared meal with Ambassador Soram and Acting Consul General Maluchmai and concluded with a very engaging question-and-answers (Q&A) session.
