Comparative Case Studies The following three case studies present an overview of other national contexts in which nationality law has been amended recently to achieve new policy goals, in an atmosphere of exceptionalism. In the Dominican Republic, it is estimated that thousands of people—perhaps hundreds of thousands—have been made stateless through of a series of shifts in nationality law and policy affecting the native-born population of Haitian descent. In the United Kingdom and Canada, changes allowing more liberal use of nationality deprivation in cases of fraud or threats to national security have triggered criticism for disproportionate impacts on marginalized communities, particularly Muslim, Arab, Middle Eastern, and South Asian communities. These changes have also been criticized for creating a new class of contingent citizens whose status is a privilege that can be taken away by the state for an expanding list of reasons. The following brief descriptions do not attempt to capture every detail, but rather aim to highlight that what is happening in the United States reflects a global trend whose manifestations are visible elsewhere. These examples provide insight into the mechanics of expanding nationality deprivation (in the case of the Dominican Republic and the United Kingdom), as well as arguments that have successfully set limits on the practice (Canada). The examples provided from the Dominican Republic and the United Kingdom are also included to illustrate the potential for further expansion of attacks on the security of citizenship in the United States. Dominican Republic The Americas is a region of strong legal protections in the field of nationality and statelessness. The right to nationality is codified in Article 20 of the American Convention on Human Rights,117 and under that framework deprivation of nationality leading to statelessness is prohibited.118 The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has also considered the application of Article 20 of the American Convention in cases brought on behalf of individuals of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic challenging that country’s nationality law and practice, chiefly on grounds of racial discrimination. That discrimination is fueled by anti-Haitian sentiment, which has been a virtually permanent fixture in the country’s political, socio-cultural, and economic power structures for decades.119 In the recent judgment in the case of Expelled Dominicans and Haitians v. Dominican Republic, the Inter-American Court stated that: [I]n accordance with the current trend of international human rights law, when regulating the granting of nationality, States must take into account: (a) their obligation to prevent, to avoid and to reduce statelessness, and (b) their obligation to provide each individual with the equal and effective protection of the law without discrimination.120 I. History and Context 35