“I question my very existence, my very essence of being human. We don’t want to live or die as ghosts.” Stateless person from the former Soviet Union “Stateless means having no hope, being kind of empty. Because sometimes your body is moving but there is nothing to tell about yourself.” Stateless person from Ethiopia In October 2017, the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) initiated a study to map the stateless population in the United States (US). This study sought to: • Develop a methodology to estimate the US stateless population; • Provide provisional estimates and profiles of persons who are potentially stateless or potentially at risk of statelessness in the United States; • Create a research methodology that encouraged stateless persons to come forward and to join a growing network of persons committed to educating the public on and pursuing solutions to this problem; and, • Establish an empirical basis for public and private stakeholders to develop services, programs, and policy interventions to prevent and reduce statelessness (UNHCR 2014g, 6), and to safeguard the rights of stateless persons (UNHCR 2014d). This report describes a unique methodology to produce estimates and set forth the characteristics of US residents who are potentially stateless or potentially at risk of statelessness. The methodology relies on American Community Survey (ACS) data from the US Census Bureau, supplemented by very limited administrative data on stateless refugees and asylum-seekers.1 As part of the study, CMS developed extensive, well-documented profiles of non-US citizen residents who are potentially stateless or potentially at risk of statelessness. It then used these profiles to query ACS data in order to develop provisional estimates and determine the characteristics of these populations. 1 US Census Bureau data is the most comprehensive source of data on US residents.