14. Stateless persons lack documentation to facilitate movement on airplanes and buses. According to
members of United Stateless, they are often unable to get driver’s licenses and, if they are without
a visa, they risk arrest and detention when they travel. In cases when a stateless persons may be
eligible for a travel document (a green card holder, for example) they frequently cannot obtain
travel documents to travel abroad because of gaps in the document issuance procedures.
15. Many stateless persons are not legally employable due to a lack of work authorization in the U.S.
and have to rely on unregulated employment opportunities. In these jobs they are routinely
subject to unsafe working conditions, exploitation, enduring overtime and minimum wage
violations, discrimination, and retaliation for speaking up. Stateless women belong to minority
groups and as such experience the intersectional impact of gender, race, and ethnic biases that
result in greater vulnerability to exploitation and loss of employment.
“I was on a vacation in Florida this past January for my birthday and I had to travel by bus to get
there because I have no state ID to board an airplane. When it was time for me to go back, I have
seen a news report that there had been an ICE raid in the same greyhound station I had arrived
from. I was too afraid to go back on the bus to Chicago, so my brother had to fly to Florida and rent
a car to drive me back home.” - United Stateless member
Inability to obtain Identity Documents
“I‘ve been to the DMV about three different times trying to obtain a visitor’s driver’s license, but I was
unable to because they wouldn’t accept my Dutch birth certificate, as a form of identification. I was told
I need a passport to show, which I do not have. I tried explaining my situation to the supervisor, but she
told me she never heard of the term “stateless” and has never run into someone with my situation
before. I was told to come back when I have an asylum/refugee card.” - United Stateless member
16. Depending on their status, stateless persons in the U.S. often have no way of getting identity
documents. If they have access to documents, they often struggle to meet the requirements or
maintain these documents over a long time period. Even for individuals who qualify for relevant
documents, statelessness may negatively impact their ability to get Green Cards, travel documents,
work authorizations, drivers licenses, city ID cards, and other documents.
17. Lack of identity documents has a devastating effect on stateless people, restricts their movement,
prevents them from working or attending university and makes it difficult to apply for credit cards,
bank accounts, cell phones and any other services that require an ID card. In some cities, even
accessing buildings or other spaces may be difficult due to the need to provide an ID card for
security reasons. Likewise, encounters with government agents or police officers are a constant
concern for stateless persons.
18. Recent studies12 focusing on the discriminatory nature of the newly established voter ID laws in the
U.S. serve to highlight that it is the members of ethnic or racial minority groups, people with
disabilities, the elderly, or those living in rural areas without access to public or private
transportation that have the hardest time obtaining IDs. This, of course, includes stateless people.
19. Many US immigration attorneys, officials, judges and others involved in the immigration system do
not understand statelessness or have never heard of it before. The ways in which statelessness
may contribute to a claim for asylum under US law are poorly understood by many immigration
12
ACLU (https://www.aclu.org/other/oppose-voter-id-legislation-fact-sheet)
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