A Hopeful Update on EVS-TAP and our Recovery
This week brought some hopeful news for our economy. Since April, we’ve been pushing hard to fix the delays in the Department of Homeland Security’s Economic Vitality and Security Travel Authorization Program (EVS-TAP), which had practically stopped processing applications for tourists to the CNMI. The pause disrupted near 10% of our tourism market and forced air service routes to suspend. In May, I joined a delegation of small business owners in Washington to advocate for immediate action—and since then, I’ve been following up with calls, letters, and in-person meetings. Now, we’re finally seeing progress: EVS-TAP approvals are picking up, and tourists are returning. That means more customers for our businesses, more paychecks for workers, and more revenue for our government. We’ll keep a close watch, but I wanted you to have the latest update as we work to rebuild our economy.