Introduction “ To be stateless is to stand at the edge of a void. So much of what defines a modern human being is tied to the concept of nationality and citizenship. When one is stripped of that, a gulf opens up between you and the rest of the human race.” Ekaterina, United Stateless Founding Member 1. United Stateless1 and ISI2 make this submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, on behalf of all stateless persons in the United States of America (U.S.). Minorities are at particular risk of statelessness. Most stateless people in the U.S. come from migrant backgrounds and belong to minority communities.This submission focuses on statelessness as a minority issue and the denial of the fundamental rights of stateless people in the U.S., addressing gaps in the U.S. national legal framework. It highlights and issues recommendations on the following intersectional issues: - 2. The effects of Covid-19 on stateless people Stateless people in U.S. immigration detention Challenges stateless people face in accessing human rights, presented through stateless peoples’ experiences In December 2011 while commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, the U.S. government made pledges in support of the UN mandates to address statelessness around the world3. Ten years later, statelessness has yet to be addressed in the U.S.On behalf of all stateless persons living on U.S. territory, we ask for your support and solidarity to urge the U.S. government to enact legislation that provides protections and solutions for stateless persons living in the United States. Statelessness in the U.S. and gaps in the national legal framework 3. According to the Center for Migration Studies (CMS), an estimated 218,000 U.S. residents are ‘potentially stateless’ or ‘potentially at risk of statelessness’.4 The study elaborates that the number of ‘potentially stateless’ or those ‘at risk of statelessness’ is larger and more diverse than previously assumed, albeit with the caveat that severe data limitations make it impossible to provide precise estimates of this population’. In the United States, the statelessness profile reflects a diverse immigrant community, the vast majority of which is represented by racial and ethnic minorities. Some of the large minority groups represented in the U.S. include the Rohingya, Bidoon, former Soviet Union citizens, Palestinians, and Kurds.5 1 United Stateless is a registered non-profit organisation in the United States with a mission to build and inspire community among those affected by statelessness and to advocate for their human rights. For more information about United Stateless, please see: www.unitedstateless.org/ 2 The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI) is an independent non-profit organization dedicated to promoting an integrated, human rights-based response to the injustice of statelessness and exclusion. For more information about the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, see: www.institutesi.org. 3 https://www.unhcr.org/4ff55a319.pdf 4 Center for Migration Studies, Statelessness in the United States: A Study to Estimate and Profile the US Stateless Population, 2020, p. 4, https://cmsny.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/StatelessnessReportFinal.pdf. 5 Ibid. 1