Notes 1 Due to a lack of reliable, comprehensive data on stateless individuals in the United States, this number is undetermined. This report addresses some of the challenges in quantifying the number with available statistics. See infra “STATELESS INDIVIDUALS IN THE UNITED STATES—Challenges in Quantifying”. 2 Important populations of stateless individuals, or individuals at risk of statelessness, are not addressed by this report. Their situations present important issues that need further attention and full redress, but are beyond the scope of this report. For instance, some stateless persons in the United States do have a means to attain lawful status – e.g., individuals married to U.S. citizens and those recognized as refugees abroad or through the U.S. asylum system. These individuals have a means to obtain lawful permanent residence and ultimately U.S. citizenship and as such have lawful recourse to end their statelessness. These individuals are not covered by this report. There are still others who are stateless and risk remaining so, such as the roughly 40,000 refugees from Bhutan who were resettled to the U.S. from Nepal over the past five years. Unlike most resettled refugees, these refugees are not recognized as nationals of any country. Although they have a means to obtain lawful permanent residence and ultimately U.S. citizenship, historical data indicate that not all refugees and asylees complete the necessary steps to achieve citizenship. In the case of these refugees, if they do not obtain U.S. citizenship, they will remain stateless. Given that they have lawful recourse to end their statelessness, this population is not addressed in this report. Another important issue beyond the scope of this report concerns the inability of some refugees and asylees in the United States to become U.S. citizens through the naturalization process. This can occur for a number of reasons, including inability to cov- 36 er the costs—the current fee is $680 per person; or an inability to meet the English language or civics knowledge requirements. 8 U.S.C. §1423(a) & (b). There are limited waivers or exceptions for these requirements. Nor does this report address the concerns that some elderly and disabled refugees who have not been able to become U.S. citizens have or are in danger of losing federally funded Supplemental Security Income benefits. 3 See, e.g., General Assembly Resolution 50/152 (1996) at ¶14 (“The General Assembly ... Encourages the High Commissioner [for Refugees] to continue her activities on behalf of stateless persons, as part of her statutory function of providing international protection and of seeking preventive action...”) (emphasis in original); General Assembly Resolution 61/137 (2007) (“The General Assembly...notes the work of the High Commissioner [for Refugees] in regard to identifying stateless persons, prevention and reducing statelessness, and protecting stateless persons, and urges the Office of the High Commissioner to continue to work in this area....”); U.N. SecretaryGeneral, Guidance Note of the Secretary General: The United Nations and Statelessness, June 2011 at 3 (“The U.N. General Assembly has entrusted the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) with a mandate relating to the identification, prevention and reduction of statelessness and protection of stateless persons.”), available at <http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/4e11d5092.pdf>. It is important to note that UNHCR’s mandate to address statelessness does not necessarily extend to all stateless persons. Under Article 1 of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, Sept. 28, 1954, 360 U.N.T.S.117 (1954 Convention), those stateless “persons with respect to whom there are serious reasons for considering that: (a) They have committed a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime Citizens of Nowhere: