2021 in the territories, in context
As 2021 draws to a close, we take a look back at the top stories we published about the United States territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
January
We covered Equally American’s efforts to make sure the territories were treated equally in the incoming Biden-Harris administration.
February
The efforts to include Puerto Rico in the Supplemental Security Income program garnered a lot of attention this year.
March
The story of American Samoa and its unique handling of the pandemic brought this story to the forefront in March.
April
The appointment of Gretchen Sierra-Zorita to the White House garnered praise from advocacy groups in April.
May
Puerto Rico’s ongoing budget woes continue to make headlines, even though some progress was made earlier this year.
June
The introduction of two competing bills to address Puerto Rico’s status warranted the US House Committee on Natural Resources to hold a hearing on the topic. That, however, was as far as either bill made it this year.
July
Efforts by Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón (NPP, R) to provide proper compensation to military sexual abuse victims garnered the most attention on our site during July.
August
The devastating loss of the Arecibo Observatory radio telescope has Congress looking at potential options for the future.
September
American Samoa lasted longer than any other jurisdiction without any COVID-19 cases, so we took a look at how that impacted their vaccination rates.
October
SSI and its extension to the territories made it back to headlines when it was included in the draft text for the Build Back Better act. The bill, however, never passed Congress.
November
This writer’s first-hand account of the difficulties Puerto Ricans are experiencing with the electric system brought a surge in traffic in November.
December
The selection of Marcos Berrios as Puerto Rico’s second astronaut brought more clicks than any other story in December.
