Posted on 12/21/2019 8:10:25 AM PST by tlozo
Alexander Vavilov was born in Toronto, which would typically qualify him for Canadian citizenship. But authorities had ruled that Vavilov didn't qualify because his parents were part of a notorious Russian spy ring in North America that was broken up by the FBI in 2010.
The high court rejected that finding, meaning Vavilov can reside permanently in the country where his parents once lived clandestine lives as deeply embedded spies who were the models for the TV show "The Americans."
“With this victory comes the bitter realization of all the suffering I have had to endure to see my status as an ordinary Canadian restored," Vavilov said in a statement through his lawyer. “For the better part of a decade I was forced into exile from Canada. I was forced onto the public stage unwillingly and deprived of my ability to pursue a normal life.”
“Having my citizenship finally respected brings me great joy," he added. "I hope my long and litigious fight through the courts will at least bring some certainty and inspiration to other Canadians that may be defending their rights like I have had to.”
Vavilov's Toronto-based lawyer Hadayt Nazami, said his client plans to move back to Canada from Russia.
“This is a rare case. Even if someone is born in Canada in the future who is a child of spies, we can't go around using citizenship laws to punish children when they have done nothing wrong,”
The Canadian government argued he wasn't entitled to citizenship and appealed to the Supreme Court to annul the passport granted to him by a lower court. The top court upheld that ruling.
Vavilov's supporters said a son shouldn't pay for the sins of his parents, while critics contend his claim to be a Canadian by birth was based on a fraud since he and his parents lived under stolen identities in the Toronto area and later Massachusetts as they collected intelligence for Moscow.
Canada, like the U.S., grants citizenship to anyone born within its territory with limited exceptions, such as the children of diplomats. The government argued that Vavilov's parents were employees or representatives of a foreign government and thus ineligible. Vavilov's lawyer argued that they were not official representatives and that all that matters in this case is their physical birthplace.
The parents came to Toronto in the 1980s and took the names Donald Heathfield and Tracey Ann Foley. They then gave birth to two sons — Timothy in 1990 and Alexander in 1994 — before moving to Paris in 1995 and then Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1999.
In 2010, the FBI arrested a ring of sleeper agents for Russia that it had been following for years in the United States. All 10, including the now well-known Anna Chapman, pleaded guilty and were returned to Russia in a swap.
The family's story became the inspiration for “The Americans.”
An FBI agent who oversaw the arrest of the couple, Andrey Bezrukov and Elena Vavilova, and the other eight sleeper agents criticized the high court's decision.
“This is ridiculous. Their parents are convicted spies, both of whom assumed identities of deceased legitimate Canadian citizens for the purposes of infiltrating the United States under cover," said Richard DesLauriers. “To grant their sons legitimate status is a perversion of the law. Their parents were spies.”
Prosecutors said the father met in 2004 with an employee of the U.S. government to discuss nuclear weapons research.
DesLauriers said in 2010 that Timothy Vavilov may have found out about his parents' secret life before they were arrested. But the brothers weren't charged.
Their lawyer said no evidence had ever surfaced suggesting the sons knew their parents were Russians or were spies.
Alexander Vavilov wanted to return to Canada for university but was denied. The government ruled Canada would no longer recognize him as Canadian because his parents were "employees or representatives of a foreign government."
After losing in a lower court, Vavilov won support from the Federal Court of Appeal, which ruled in 2017 that the law applies only to foreign government employees who benefit from diplomatic immunities or privileges. Vavilov was given his citizenship back.
In its decision, the Supreme Court said the citizenship registrar's decision was unreasonable. Although the registrar knew her interpretation of the provision was novel, she failed to provide a proper rationale, the court said.
Although it involves the same central issue, Timothy Vavilov's case proceeded separately through the courts and was not directly before the Supreme Court. However, in a decision last year, the Federal Court of Appeal said its 2017 ruling on Alexander Vavilov equally applied to his brother, making him a citizen.
I agree with the decision. Children should never be punished for the crimes or sins of their parents. Its unreasonable and inhumane.
Every person is responsible for his own fate. Collective punishment is unbefitting of a free society.
Perhaps you are right but is not the court’s place to make that decision.
This is just another case where the court goes out side of its powers to usurp the power and responsibility of the legislative branch to do the humane thing.
The court has the duty to uphold the rights and freedoms of Canadians and it has the power of judicial review.
The Canadian government’s actions at least were ultra vires and that’s why the high court overturned them.
Alexander Vavilov’s citizenship was restored and he can’t be deprived of it unless he has been found guilty of committing a crime by a court.
He considers himself Canadian and not Russian. He was born in Canada and lived there.
I can’t really agree with the ruling. I understand it’s not our inclination to punish children for their parents’ crimes, however, if a child loses his/her home in a mansion because the parents are drug dealers does that punish the child? In this case, the child is profiting from the wrongdoing of the parents. I’m not familiar with Canadian law and I know our American judges don’t seem to respect our US Constitution but we do have the “subject to the jurisdiction” phrase re. our birthright citizenship and in this case as spies, his parents were certainly subject to the jurisdiction of Russia - jurisdiction meaning in this case to whom their loyalty lies.
If they are going to grant citizenship, they should at least make him change his name to “Alexander SonofRussianSpies Vavilov” and make him use it for all legal transactions.
He and brother were born Canadian citizens. Same as yours truly despite my parents being foreign nationals.
The government couldn’t deprive them of it unless it established they committed a crime. Which it hasn’t done.
They restored the citizenship of his brother and now he has reclaimed his citizenship.
This has nothing to do with their parents. That’s a separate matter.
The parents were in Canada illegally using the identities of dead Canadians, working as spies for the Russians. If you think that the offspring of enemy agents born in Canada or the USA deserve citizenship then you are nuts. The kids are Russians not Canadians.
But then they knew nothing about what their parents were doing. They are born in North America and all their lives are there. You can’t send them to Russia based on the fact that they don’t know the language, unfamiliar with lifestyles and don’t have education and skills marketable there. The situations like that weren’t uncommon in US during the Cold War. In these cases the kids stayed in US, some even served in the military later.
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