iii. Refusal of Designated Country to Accept Respondent If “the government of the country [designated by a respondent] is not willing to accept the alien into the country,” DHS may attempt to remove the respondent to another country.145 As detailed in the following sections, DHS’s decision to attempt to remove to one country or another will greatly impact the stateless respondent’s asylum case, detention, and ability to be removed. iv. Removal to the Designated Country Would Be Prejudicial To the United States If removal of the respondent “to the country [designated by the individual] is prejudicial to the United States,” the respondent’s choice may be disregarded. Notably, the authority for this decision lies with the U.S. Department of State.146 This subsection applies equally to stateless respondents and those who are not stateless. b. DHS’s Opportunity to Designate If a respondent is unable to designate a country that will accept her, the ability to designate a country of removal shifts to DHS. DHS must progress through the statute’s three options in the order that they appear in the statute.147 These are discussed in order below. i. Country Where Respondent is Subject, National, or Citizen First, DHS may order removal to any country where the respondent is a subject, national, or citizen—even if this is more than one country.148 Where it is not possible to determine the respondent’s nationality, or if the respondent is stateless, this section may be unenforceable, and it would be necessary to move on to the next options. ii. Additional Options for Country of Removal If removal to the respondent’s country of citizenship or nationality is not possible, the law designates additional countries to which removal can be directed.149 These steps are not carried out in any particular order150 and include: (1) The country from which the individual was admitted to the United States; (2) The country that contains the foreign port from which the individual left for the United States; (3) The country in which the individual last resided; (4) The country in which the individual was born; (5) The country that had sovereignty over the individual’s birthplace when she was born; or (6) The country in which the individual’s birthplace is located at the time of removal.151 See INA § 241(b)(2)(C)(iii). But see Matter of Maccaud, 14 I&N Dec. 429, 431 (BIA 1973) (noting that an affirmative refusal is not required if the time period specified by the statute has already passed). 146 See Matter of Linnas, 19 I&N Dec. 302, 309 (BIA 1985). 147 See INA § 241(b)(2)(D), (E); Jama, 543 U.S. at 341. 148 Matter of B-R-, 26 I&N Dec. 119, 122 (BIA 2013). 149 See INA §241(b)(2)(E)(i)-(vi). 150 Matter of Fwu, 17 I&N Dec. 354, 356 (BIA 1980). 151 INA § 241(b)(2)(E). 145 33