Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law 53 (2021)
Ghosts in America: Working Towards Building a Legal Framework for
Stateless Individuals in the United States
emotional support. 342 Indefinite detention interferes with their ability
to work and support their families, resulting in additional costs to the
government, which often must step in and provide for these families.343
Fourth, the cost of time spent by detention and removal officers on
follow-up with countries that will not claim stateless individuals is
wasteful spending. 344 For example, Keyse Jama was a Somalian national
who argued that Somalia would never issue him travel documents
because it did not have a functioning government. 345 The United States
Supreme Court held that the immigration officials did not need the
target country’s consent for removal. 346 Given the high-profile nature of
his case, Immigration officials promptly flew Jama to Somalia on a
private jet and hired private escorts to take him through the airport.347
However, because Jama did not have travel documents, he was denied
entry into Somalia and sent back to the United States. 348 This failed
attempt to remove Keyse Jama cost taxpayers an estimated two
hundred thousand dollars. 349 While this is not a common occurrence, it
demonstrates the potential excessive cost to the taxpayer from an
unsuccessful deportation attempt.
C)
A Legislative Solution
The fourth recommendation would be the implementation of a
legislative solution modelled after the 2013 S. 744 bill (S. 744 2.0),350
which would incorporate stateless individuals into the United States
immigration legal framework. S. 744 proposed a legal definition of
stateless person that would be incorporated into the Immigration and
Nationality Act (INA); an application procedure, which includes
eligibility criteria, exclusions and waivers, and rules for employment
authorization and derivative beneficiaries; considerations for stateless
persons to adjust status to Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR); some
information about evidentiary considerations; and provisions
342. Id.
343. Id.
344. Baluarte, supra note 20, at 366.
345. Id. at 362.
346. Id.
347. Id.
348. Id.
349. Id.
350. See generally Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration
Modernization Act, S. 744, 113th Cong. (2013) [hereinafter Border
Security].
394