United Stateless Statement on Birthright Citizenship

January 21, 2025 

United Stateless Statement on Birthright Citizenship

Statelessness refers to the condition of an individual who is not considered a national by any country under the operation of law. Stateless people are denied basic rights and access to education, healthcare, employment, and the ability to travel. There are some 200,000 stateless people living in the United States today and millions more around the world. They face legal and social exclusion, making it difficult to live with dignity and security. 

At United Stateless (USL), we envision a world where everyone's human right to nationality is respected and upheld and no one is deprived of nationality based on their race, ethnicity, sex, gender, religion, political affiliation, or parentage. We are intimately familiar with the pain of living without the basic rights of citizenship. Because we have no recognized nationality, we are separated from family and loved ones, vulnerable to detention, and experience exclusion from every kind of civic participation.

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified in 1868 in the wake of the Civil War. It was a crucial piece in the Reconstruction Era attempts to heal the fractured nation and right the wrongs of slavery. To end birthright citizenship is a betrayal of the racial justice that the United States has worked toward over the past century and a half. 

There is no doubt that attempting to end birthright citizenship would shamefully add to the number of stateless people in this country who experience deprivation and violations of rights that we know all too well. United Stateless opposes any efforts that limit access to birthright citizenship.

Call to Action

We invite you to take in action in support: 

• Watch the Citizen of Nowhere Documentary, to better understand the challenges stateless people face in the United States

• Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed and support our efforts for the reintroduction and passage of the Stateless Protection Act of 2024 (S.3987;H.R.7755)  

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United Stateless (USL) is the only organization solely dedicated to addressing statelessness in the United States as an impact led organization with a mission to build community among those impacted by statelessness and advocate for their human right to nationality.

For more information, please contact: Communications@UnitedStateless.org