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Karina Ambartsoumian-Clough, executive director of United Stateless, a group that advocates for stateless people, said ending birthright citizenship would create "a subset of people with no legal identity." Citizenship laws vary by country and policies often change, countries sometimes dissolve and borders move, Ambartsoumian-Clough said. Not all countries allow for citizenship to be passed on via a parent, Ambartsoumian-Clough added. The more immediate practicalities also are alarming, Ambartsoumian-Clough said. For instance, how would the birth of babies be formally registered and would they be able to access medical care and vaccinations?

According to one analysis, in the absence of federal data, roughly 218,000 U.S. residents were potentially stateless, or at risk of becoming stateless, as of 2017. United Stateless, a human rights advocacy group, says reinterpreting birthright citizenship would create more stateless people. “Most stateless people don’t have any documents. They don’t have any legal identity,” says Samantha Sitterley, staff attorney at United Stateless. If the federal government is going to, overnight, bar automatic U.S. citizenship for a new group of children, she says, “It seems like there has to be some kind of structure in place.”

Statelessness doesn’t just mean lacking citizenship—it means growing up without legal recognition, without a passport, and often without access to things like health care, work, or education. Miliyon Ethiopis, a co-founder of United Stateless, a national nonprofit led by stateless people that advocates for legal recognition, protections, and a path to citizenship, knows this firsthand. Born in Ethiopia and targeted for his Eritrean heritage, Ethiopis spent more than 20 years in legal limbo in the US, working 13-hour days managing gas stations while fighting a deportation order that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) only recently agreed to reopen. In June 2024, an immigration judge finally granted him asylum.

Henry Pachnowski is about to vote for the first time at 84-years-old. He was born to Polish parents in Nazi Germany and spent many years living in the United States as a stateless person – not recognized as a citizen of any country. After seven decades of legal limbo, he will finally get a chance to cast his ballot.

Read the full story covered by Austrian national newspaper, Kleine Zeitung, authored by Thomas Götz with photography by Marco Longari. This remarkable journey highlights the resilience and hope of those who are nagivating statelessness for decades.

Henry’s journey to citizenship was made possible by the tireless work of American University’s Washington School of Law Immigrant Justice Clinic, the support of United Stateless, and the power of legal empowerment.

Despite the global #Ibelong campaign to end statelessness by 2024, millions still remain without nationality, including Karina Ambartsoumian-Clough, co-founder of United Stateless. Stateless individuals face legal and social exclusion, lacking basic rights like healthcare and education. Some countries have made strides, but the problem persists, particularly among groups like the Rohingya. United Stateless continues advocating for a path to citizenship in the U.S., where an estimated 200,000 people are stateless.

Daiana Lilo, a dedicated USL leader, continues to experience the immense challenges of being stateless and is now a first-year student at Tulane Law School. Her journey is a powerful testament to resilience and determination, and she is committed to expanding USL’s mission.