What happens when a person cannot be identified

Question

Hypothetical is that an amnesiac has no identification. I have talked with a nurse and social worker, and it appears that the protocol, in Florida at least, is to have the police attempt to identify them using missing person reports, fingerprints, etc. If that fails, they are appointed a guardian by the local court.

With that as the context, my questions are:

1. Is this more-or-less the typical procedure for people that cannot be identified?
2. What is the long term solution for people that can't be identified? Would they be given a social security number so they could get a job? I assume they wouldn't be deported, because where would you send them?

If it matters, this is research for a book, which I'm planning on setting in Salem, Oregon. My apologies if this post breaks the rules of the substack.

Answer 1

This hardly ever happens

Identity amnesia is a fictional trope, not a medical condition.

people with amnesia — also called amnestic syndrome — usually know who they are. But they may have trouble learning new information and forming new memories.

So, the idea that an otherwise perfectly functional human being cannot recall their name is a convenient hand-wave for lazy fiction writers but it's not really an issue for the law.

There are conditions that would make it difficult or impossible for a person to communicate their identity

While people 'forgetting' who they are is virtually unheard of, there are plenty of situations where a person may not be able to communicate who they are. This is usually a corollary of significant brain injury or psychiatric illness, but it can also be for simple reasons such as very young children displaced by war or civil disorder, or people who have no common language with the authorities.

Local law enforcement would usually be consulted to try to identify them, but if this fails they would become a ward of the state.

Often, this means they will be treated as an illegal immigrant, this usually works out badly.