Stateless Issues in the U.S. Immigration Law Context There is currently no provision under U.S. law that provides for stateless individuals living in the United States to gain lawful status solely on the basis of being stateless. Nevertheless, there are several circumstances in the context of immigration proceedings where the issue of whether an individual is stateless can arise. Specifically, a determination of statelessness may need to be made in the context of the following: 1) as part of the examination of the merits of claims for asylum and related protection; 2) in designating a country for removal in the event a request for asylum or other immigration remedy fails; or 3) following a final order of removal in executing that order and deciding whether to detain an individual pending execution of that order.77 Requests for Asylum Protection The 1951 Refugee Convention drafters believed that many stateless individuals in the world would also be recognized as refugees. To best ensure this, the 1951 Refugee Convention specifically includes protection for any individual who “not having a nationality” has a fear of persecution in the country of “former habitual residence”.78 When Congress enacted the 1980 Refugee Act, to bring the United States into compliance with its international obligations as a party to the 1967 Protocol to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it adopted essentially the same language as the international refugee definition.79 Under U.S. law a refugee is defined as: 18 any person who is outside any country of such person’s nationality or, in the case of a person having no nationality, is outside any country in which such person last habitually resided, and who is unable or unwilling to return to, and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.80 This definition makes it clear that a stateless individual may be recognized as a refugee under U.S. law.81 Consistent with the international interpretation of the refugee definition, U.S. courts have recognized that being stateless may be a contributing factor to vulnerability.82 A least three courts have raised questions as to whether discriminatory denationalization that results in statelessness can constitute persecution as a basis for asylum protection, including one court that found unequivocally that it could indeed be persecution.83 Similar to the interpretation of the international refugee definition, U.S. courts have consistently found that statelessness is not an independent ground for establishing eligibility to receive the protection of asylum.84 As is the case for anyone seeking refugee protection, stateless individuals must also demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution on account of a protected ground—but in the country of their “last habitual residence” as opposed to in their country of nationality. Citizens of Nowhere: