One interviewee stated: I found this place and let [my friends] know. They overnighted the money. I started the business with $16,000. Two years later, I bought the building and then I bought a liquor license. It was a little café and now it has become twice, maybe even three times, bigger restaurant than it ever was, with the nicest garden and nice outside seating. We were expanding it, and ICE picked me up right in the middle of the construction and put me in jail for ten months. Thanks to the community, they took it over and they continued, and they kept it alive. Many hope to give back to their communities and to the United States. One interviewee mentioned he participated in a recovery mission with medical doctors and nurses who went to the US Virgin Islands after Hurricane Maria and Irma. Another said that he hopes to serve in the military. He works as a teacher and volunteers at police stations, immigration courts, and elsewhere to translate for members of his community. Even among those new to the United States, many expressed a deep gratitude to the US government for allowing them to stay. As a Rohingya man who arrived in the United States in 2015 put it: “The US government respects us as Rohingya… Even though we don’t have US citizenship, we’re not afraid to live here.” Interviewees expressed enthusiasm about eventually naturalizing and contributing to US society. The interviews revealed that stateless persons—particularly those without status—face a variety of challenges in the United States, including limited employment prospects, barriers to international and even domestic travel, difficulties obtaining drivers’ licenses and opening bank accounts, psychological stress and a sense of stigma. Insecurity Many stateless persons, particularly those who have applied for asylum, endure often-crippling insecurity. They live in limbo without knowing whether they will be permitted to stay or will face deportation to their countries of origin.70 For many, the prospect of permanent separation from their family is terrifying. Others fear that, if they are deported, they will face persecution or imprisonment. This insecurity is intensified by legal proceedings that can drag on for years. One woman from the former Soviet Union noted that her case lasted about five years. If not granted asylum, stateless people are often detained for months while the government attempts to deport them. If deportation cannot be accomplished, they are released under “orders of supervision.” In such cases, they must keep trying to secure travel documents while the government tries to find a country to accept them. Many interviewees said they were “living in limbo” and did not know if they would ultimately be able to settle in the United States. One participant grew tired of living as a stateless person and voluntarily turned himself in to the authorities. A man from the former Soviet Union noted, “Living all this time without a paper, 70 This fear is not groundless. ICE data indicate that “stateless” persons and likely stateless persons are, in fact, removed each year. 70