Acknowledgements
The original research and draft of this report was prepared by David C. Baluarte. The report
was revised and edited by Pamela Goldberg, UNHCR, and Sebastian Köhn, Open Society Justice Initiative. Joanne Kelsey and Jennifer Riddle made substantial contributions to the report
and were instrumental to its completion. The project was supervised and overseen by Pamela
Goldberg and Sebastian Köhn. Mark Manly, UNHCR, provided his invaluable expertise and discerning eye throughout the drafting of this report. Julia Harrington Reddy, Open Society Justice Initiative, provided intellectual leadership and thorough edits to the report. Vincent Cochetel and Buti Kale, both of UNHCR, also provided valuable comments and insight in reviewing
the report. Mirna Adjami, UNHCR, contributed notable expertise to the editing process. Leslie
Velez, UNHCR, provided key direction in the completion of the report. UNHCR and the Open
Society Justice Initiative provided funding for the report. We appreciate the contributions of
officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Justice and U.S.
Department of State in reviewing and commenting on the report.
The following individuals made significant contributions to this project: Elizabeth Dallam, Kaitlin Kalna Darwal, Lindsay Jenkins, Melissa Frisk, Diana Sayed, Janelle M. Lewis, Aliyah Phillips,
Laura Bingham, Indira Goris, Wendy Patten, James Goldston, Patrick Molitoris and Bernadette
Passade Cisse.
We acknowledge with appreciation the efforts of the following UNHCR law interns who assisted in a variety of ways in the completion of this report: Pauline Nguyen, Erica Gelfand and
Lauren Chang.
Sincere appreciation to all the many stateless individuals, their advocates and family members,
who have contacted UNHCR and the Open Society Justice Initiative over the years, and to
those among them who allowed us to use their stories. This report could not have been written
without them. Deep gratitude to Tatianna Lesnikova, who has courageously given an eloquent,
compelling and very human face to the concerns of stateless individuals in the United States.
Design and layout for the report was expertly done by Diana Quick. The cover art was skillfully
designed by Lena Markley of Dovetail Design Studio. Charity Tooze provided creative direction
throughout the design process.
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