Attachment B: Description of Survey Results
The largest share of stateless persons described in the CMS survey, 28 percent or 13 in total, had
become stateless through gaps in citizenship laws. Most were born in states without birthright
citizenship and either had stateless parents or could not attain their parents’ citizenship. Nine
persons (19.6 percent) were stateless due to discriminatory laws that denied nationality to or
denationalized members of their ethnic or religious groups. An additional nine persons were
stateless due to state succession. Most in this latter category came to the United States on
passports from states, such as the Soviet Union, that no longer exist, and had not been able to
gain recognition from those successor states.
Sixteen had been granted the right to stay in the United States legally, either by an affirmative
asylum decision or through family sponsorship, but 26 (57.8 percent) lacked legal status. Of the
latter group, six had been denied asylum, two were living under orders of supervision, and one
had been granted withholding of removal. The survey highlighted both the heterogeneity of
stateless persons in the United States and the common challenges faced by them.
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