The 218,000 figure should be used with caution. As discussed, many of those included in these provisional estimates may not in fact be stateless. Some may have obtained nationality in their own country or in a third country. Others may be stateless, but will ultimately be able to obtain nationality in the United States. On the other hand, this figure excludes some US residents who are potentially stateless or potentially at risk of statelessness. In short, it represents a population of non-US citizens who fall within profiles of persons who are potentially stateless or potentially at risk of statelessness. For information purposes, CMS also analyzed federal immigration data—some publicly available and some provided by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, Inc. (TRAC) at Syracuse University—on populations listed as “stateless” or of “unknown” nationality. This data included populations that: (1) sought asylum “affirmatively” (not in removal proceedings) before US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS); (2) sought asylum “defensively,” i.e., while in removal proceedings; (3) were placed in removal proceedings between 2001 and 2018; and, (4) were in immigrant detention in 2018 (TRAC 2019d). These data sources do not capture the total number of foreign-born persons who come to the attention of federal agencies. Nor do they count stateless persons not encountered by federal immigration officials. In addition, some persons may be incorrectly characterized in these datasets as nationals of particular states. The report provides CMS’s analysis of this immigration data, not to add to its estimates of those who are potentially stateless or potentially at risk of statelessness, but to present a fuller picture of certain populations and to highlight the limitations of US administrative data. Section I of the report outlines the project’s methodology. Section II describes the causes of statelessness, the legal context faced by stateless persons in the United States, CMS’s profiles of populations that are potentially stateless or potentially at risk of statelessness in the United States, and descriptions of certain populations not included in CMS’s estimates. Section III provides provisional estimates of select populations that are potentially stateless or potentially at risk of statelessness. It also sets forth the strengths and limitations of the data used to make these estimates, and the numbers of persons listed as stateless or of unknown nationality in US immigration and refugee datasets. Section IV describes the challenges facing stateless persons in the United States, drawing heavily from CMS’s interviews with stateless persons and its online survey. Section V recommends ways to improve data collection in order to better identify stateless persons. It also outlines some of measures set forth in the 1961 Convention, US legislation, and academic and policy literature to prevent and reduce statelessness, including a designated path to citizenship for stateless persons. It also sets forth a series of policy recommendations to protect and integrate stateless persons. 5