Executive Summary Tatianna and her two sons, David and Danil, were born in the Soviet Union in what is now Ukraine. In 1992, Tatianna fled to the United States with her younger son, David, to escape escalating government threats against the family for their political beliefs. Assuming that she could send for him once she was settled in the United States, Tatianna left 19-year-old Danil behind. Tatianna and David’s asylum claims were denied in 1997. When government authorities tried to deport them, they found that Ukraine did not consider them citizens because they left for the United States without having fulfilled the residency requirements necessary for citizenship in Ukraine. The Russian Federation and other successor states did not recognize them as citizens because they did not live there after the collapse of the Soviet Union. They are stateless. As a direct result of their statelessness, Tatianna and David were arrested and held for months in immigration detention while the government attempted to deport them; they have had difficulties maintaining their permission to work; they cannot travel freely throughout the United States and cannot leave the United States because they do not have any valid travel documents. They continue to live in limbo and it has often been difficult for them to survive. Stateless persons are individuals who are without the recognition or protection of any country. Without the protection of citizenship or nationality, stateless individuals are highly vulnerable to discrimination and abuse, and are often denied essential human rights by the State in which they live. As a result, many stateless individuals live in the shadows to minimize their risk of exposure to harsh treatment and potential expulsion. This “shadow” existence of many stateless individuals greatly impedes the ability to develop a full picture of statelessness globally and to make a precise determination of the number of stateless individuals in the world today. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there are 12 million stateless persons globally, of which 3.5 million are in countries for which there are reliable statistics counting stateless individuals. An undetermined number of these individuals live in the United States—many without any lawful status, access to rights or protections.1 This report focuses primarily on the especially vulnerable population of stateless individuals residing in the United States who have no path to acquire lawful status or become naturalized U.S. citizens under the current law.2 The report provides an overview of statelessness in the global context, including its causes and often grave consequences to those individuals who are stateless, the international legal framework, and the role of UNHCR. The report then discusses some of the key issues faced by this group of stateless individuals in the U.S. and concludes with recommendations of measures for the U.S. Government to take to ensure that these individuals receive the rights and responsibilities that will enable them to participate as full members of society. These individuals are destined to remain forever stateless and vulnerable unless concrete, specific actions are taken by the U.S. Government. These actions are delineated in the recommendations at the conclusion of this report. 1