2019.05 USCIS
Statelessness—a condition of not being “considered a national by any State under the operation of its law”—is a global human rights crisis absent from the public dialogue. Stateless people are unable to seek legal protection from any nation-state and are often barred from movement. They cannot legally travel across borders and are often at risk of detention and discrimination. Although the U.S. acknowledges the phenomenon, its government does not recognize the full tragedy of the problem and has not designated an office for addressing the issue of statelessness within its borders. Without a legal apparatus for dealing with statelessness, the U.S. state perpetuates a lack of awareness of the issue and paralyzes any political will for change. Is there any solution to this seemingly dead-end problem?
U.S. Citizenship Initiative for the Stateless (USCIS) is a visionary agency that aims to break fear, apathy, and the bureaucratic deadlock that perpetuates the invisibility of stateless people. We co-opt and reimagine the legal and visual language of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Collaborating with United Stateless, a national grassroots organization led by stateless people living in America, USCIS advocates on behalf of stateless people in the U.S. through forms, travel documents, posters, and media activism.
Hanna Kim is an artist and a designer who is committed to working on issues of human rights and social justice. She focuses on the intersection of design and policy. With a background in fine arts and graphic design, she uses visual storytelling to explain complex concepts and shine a light on marginalized narratives.
The exhibition of USCIS resembles a bureaucratic immigration office. Here, the public can be educated and mobilized to act on these issues. Waiting in a winding queue with little instruction, visitors begin to understand the frustrations and challenges of being stuck in legal limbo. They then engage their immigration officer, actually a stateless person swapping roles. This radical reversal of authority gives agency to someone who, outside the exhibition, faces consistent intimidation and humiliation by the state. Taking part in nonviolent activism, the public then fills out a petition to be mailed to (the real) USCIS field offices, government officials, and politicians as a provocation. USCIS thus renders the solution tangible, even if it remains unreal. It envisions an alternative future where justice is restored to stateless people in the U.S. And it creates room for critical dialogue and action on nationhood, citizenship, rights, and the definition of humanity itself.
