Myanmar’s 1982 citizenship law grants full citizenship to members of “national races” that the government claims have been present in the country since 1823, the year prior to its colonization by Britain (DOS 2017c, 31). As a result, some Burmese-born individuals of Indian, Chinese, and Nepali descent are stateless. Many of their families have lived in Myanmar for generations (Lynch 2005, 33). Although the Burmese government has permitted some persons of Indian and Chinese descent to naturalize, many remained without full Myanmar citizenship as of 2017 (ISI 2014, 88; Arraiza and Vonk 2017, 9-10). Burmese law does not provide citizenship to children born to stateless parents. Consequently, statelessness in these communities passes from generation to generation (DOS 2017c, 31). Ethnic Chinese and Indians from Myanmar who arrived in the United States in 1982 or later are thus potentially stateless or potentially at risk of statelessness. Small numbers of Hmong from Laos who arrived in the United States in 1975 or later are potentially stateless or potentially at risk of statelessness. The Hmong are a minority group in Laos and Thailand. Many fought with the US military against Communist militias in Laos during the Vietnam War. Following the 1975 Communist victory in Laos, the Hmong faced severe persecution and many fled to Thailand (Yau 2005). Approximately 90 percent of Hmong refugees in Thailand have been resettled in the United States since 1975, and all Hmong refugee camps in Thailand were shut down in the mid-1990s (ibid.). Soldiers who fought in US-sponsored missions were resettled first, followed by those fleeing poor economic conditions and repression (ibid.). The Hmong Veteran’s Naturalization Act of 2000 facilitated the naturalization of Hmong soldiers who served in US-backed groups in Laos,40 leading many to naturalize. Others, however, failed to secure LPR status or citizenship for a variety of reasons. Those who have not naturalized are potentially stateless or potentially at risk of statelessness (Nyhan 2016). Although Hmong born in Laos are in theory entitled to Lao citizenship, the Lao government has for decades refused to recognize the citizenship of ethnic Hmong with deportation orders (ILCM 2018). Statelessness is a significant problem in Thailand. Many members of the Hmong, Lahu, Lisu, Yao, Shan, and other Hill Tribes in Thailand’s northeast are potentially stateless or potentially at risk of statelessness, as are persons born to refugees from Laos and Myanmar (Rijken et al. 2015, 30-31). In 1972, the Thai government issued a decree stating that, when a child is born in Thailand to foreign parents, both parents must have permanent residence in order for that child to obtain Thai nationality (ibid.). This decree was applied retroactively, rendering many persons from border regions stateless. The decree affected many members of northern Thai Hill Tribes with ties 40 Prior to 1998, naturalization rates among the Hmong—particularly among Hmong elders—were low, due largely to language barriers. When the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 went into effect in 1998, many Hmong elders received notice that their food and financial benefits would soon be terminated. This development spurred Hmong activists to work with legislators and CBOs in states such as Minnesota to facilitate Hmong naturalization (Lee 2016). Hmong naturalization rates have since increased dramatically. The Pew Research Center reports that 77 percent of Hmong now possess US citizenship, the highest rate among Asian-Americans (Budiman et al. 2019). 25