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THAT STORY COMING UP. NOW ON MATTER OF FACT. TODAY, MILLIONS OF PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD ARE LIVING IN LIMBO WITHOUT A COUNTRY THEY CAN LEGALLY CLAIM THEY’RE THE SO-CALLED STATELESS. THE UN DEFINES THEM AS SOMEONE WHO IS, QUOTE, NOT CONSIDERED AS A NATIONAL BY ANY STATE UNDER OPERATION OF ITS LAW. SO HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN? AND OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT JOEY CHEN INTRODUCES US TO TWO STATELESS PEOPLE LIVING HERE IN THE US AND EXPLORES THE CHALLENGES THEY FACE ADDRESSING THEIR UNUSUAL IMMIGRATION STATUS. IN A CITY WHERE IT’S EASY TO FEEL LOST AMONG STRANGERS. DANAH ABDULAZIZ IS VERY CLEAR. THIS IS WHERE SHE BELONGS. US. YES, I LOVE NEW YORK. THIS IS MY HOME, JUST FIVE YEARS OLD. WHEN HER FAMILY MOVED FROM KUWAIT, DANAH GREW UP SHOPPING IN BODEGAS, STROLLING BOULEVARD WITH THE BESTIE. AND WHEN YOU HEAR ME TALK, I SOUND LIKE A NEW YORKER, SHE RAISED, AS SHE WROTE IN A RECENT ESSAY, A NEW YORKER TO THE CORE. THERE’S SOMETHING THAT YOU WOULDN’T KNOW ABOUT ME, THOUGH. I’M STATELESS. SO WHAT ARE YOU A CITIZEN OF? I’M A CITIZEN OF NOWHERE. I NOT RECOGNIZED AS A CITIZEN OF ANY COUNTRY IN THIS WORLD. HER NATIVE COUNTRY ONLY GRANTS CITIZENSHIP TO THOSE BORN TO KUWAITI FATHERS. BUT ANNAS IS AMONG THE PERSECUTED MINORITY BEDOON, WHICH LEFT HER WITHOUT THE RIGHT TO KUWAITI CITIZENSHIP. IF I DIDN’T CHOOSE TO BE STATELESS, I DIDN’T CHOOSE TO BE BORN STATELESS. I DIDN’T CHOOSE TO COME TO THE UNITED STATES AND BE STUCK HERE. AS SURREAL AS IT SOUNDS, DANAH IS ONE OF MORE THAN 200,000 PEOPLE LIVING STATELESS IN THE US. PEOPLE LIKE LIKE KARINA AMBARTSOUMIAN CLOUGH, WHOSE SOVIET BIRTH CERTIFICATE IS HER SOLE PROOF OF EXISTENCE. WHY IS THIS DOCUMENT SO IMPORTANT TO YOU? THIS IS THE ONLY DOCUMENT I HAVE FROM THE COUNTRY I WAS BORN IN AND HER BIRTH IN WHAT IS NOW ODESSA, UKRAINE. SPAIN SO YOU’RE A CITIZEN OF UKRAINE? I AM NOT. WELL, YOU’RE NOT A CITIZEN OF UKRAINE, ARE YOU A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES? I’M NOT. ARE YOU A CITIZEN OF RUSSIA? NO. KARINA WAS JUST EIGHT WHEN HER FAMILY ARRIVED IN THE STATES. IN A SIMPLE TWIST OF GEOPOLITICAL FATE, THE SOVIET UNION FELL WHILE US IMMIGRATION COURTS WERE CONSIDERING THE FAMILY’S BID FOR ASYLUM. THEY WERE DENIED AND TOLD THEY’D BE DEPORTED. ONCE YOU ARE DENIED ASYLUM, YOU ARE ON FINAL REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS. THAT’S THAT’S LAW. AND YOUR PARENTS TRIED TO COOPERATE? YEAH, OF COURSE. OF COURSE. THEY WERE ORDERED TO GO TO THE UKRAINIAN EMBASSY TO TO RETRIEVE TRAVEL DOCUMENTS. AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT WE DID. AND THAT’S WHAT WE WERE TOLD. SORRY. WE DON’T RECOGNIZE YOU. YOU COULDN’T EVEN GET DEPORTED. I COULD NOT EVEN GET DEPORTED BECAUSE THERE WAS NOWHERE TO DEPORT YOU TO. RIGHT. IN THE 37 YEARS SINCE KARINA’S LEARNED THE DAILY INDIGNITIES OF BEING STATELESS, IT WAS HARD TO GET AN ID FOR ME. I COULDN’T GET A BANK ACCOUNT. I COULDN’T EVEN GET A CELL PHONE. THERE WERE CERTAIN BUILDINGS I COULDN’T ENTER BECAUSE I DIDN’T HAVE AN ID, LIKE IF THE POST OFFICE HAD MY PACKAGE, I COULDN’T GET IT. THE STATELESS FEAR ICE ENFORCEMENT, EVEN WHEN THEY COMPLY WITH IMMIGRATION RULES, KARINA’S PARENTS WERE FORCED TO WEAR ANKLE MONITORS. DANA’S FAMILY FACED A PREDAWN RAID THAT LANDED THEM IN DETENTION FOR MONTHS. BUT WHAT MAY BE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR THE STATELESS IS SIMPLY MAKING THEIR PLIGHT KNOWN. THERE WAS NO WAY FOR ME TO FIGURE IT OUT. IT WAS JUST SO LONELY. KARINA NOW LEADS AN ORGANIZATION CALLED THE UNITED STATELESS SEEKING. SUPPORT FROM THE WOMEN’S FUNDING NETWORK AND OTHER GROUPS AND MAKING THE CASE TO LAWMAKERS IN WASHINGTON THAT THE STATELESS NEED SPECIAL IMMIGRATION STATUS TO END THIS ISSUE IN THE US, WE NEED CONGRESS TO PASS THE STATELESS PROTECTION ACT. AFTER DECADES IN LIMBO. RESOLUTION CAN’T COME SOON ENOUGH FOR THE STATELESS LIVING, BOTH IN PLAIN SIGHT AND UNSEEN. I AM NOT FREE, BUT I AM TECHNICALLY FREE, BUT NOT FREE. SO YES, I. I FEEL LIKE I’M IN PRISON.