Son of Russian spies battles to obtain Canadian citizenship
TORONTO — Recent university graduate Alex Vavilov was born in Toronto, which would typically qualify him for Canadian citizenship, except for one thing: His parents were part of a notorious Russian spy ring in North America.
That is the conflict at the heart of a high-profile citizenship battle as the 23-year-old Vavilov seeks the right to reside permanently in the country where his parents once lived clandestine lives as deeply embedded spies who are the models for the TV show The Americans.
The Canadian government says he isn’t entitled to citizenship and has appealed to the Supreme Court to annul the passport granted to him by a lower court.
Vavilov’s supporters say a son shouldn’t pay for the sins of his parents. Critics contend his claim to be a Canadian by birth is fraudulent since he and his parents lived under stolen identities in the Toronto area and later Massachusetts as they collected intelligence for Moscow.
The case is another reminder of the Cold War hostilities that are surging throughout the world in an era when Russia is accused of poisonings in Britain and interfering in elections — accusations it denies. Some argue Canada shouldn’t be quick to forgive the case of the Russian spy couple who lived under deep cover in North America.
“We shouldn’t be doing anything to encourage activity by the Russian intelligence service, particularly in terms of what’s happened recently with the poisoning of individuals,” said Richard Des Lauriers, the FBI agent who oversaw the arrests of the parents, Andrey Bezrukov and Elena Vavilova, in 2010 along with eight other members of the spy ring around the U.S.
The court agreed this month to take up Vavilov’s case and will rule on whether the government has the discretion to take away his citizenship. If it finds in his favour, it would likely allow his older brother, Tim Vavilov, to retain his Canadian citizenship as well. The case presents a unique set of circumstances.
Canada, like the U.S., grants citizenship to anyone born within its territory — with limited exceptions, such as the children of diplomats.
The government argues that Vavilov’s parents were employees or representatives of a foreign government and thus ineligible. But the lawyer for the brothers says they were not official representatives and that all that matters in this case is their physical birthplace.
“The right to citizenship is a fundamental right when you are born here,” said Toronto-based lawyer Hadayt Nazami. “You can’t punish children for something their parents did.”
The parents came to Toronto in the 1980s and took the names Donald Heathfield and Tracey Ann Foley. They then gave birth to Tim in 1990 and Alex in 1994 before moving to Paris in 1995 and then Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1999.
“The kids were given that name under false pretences,” said David Heathfield, whose deceased younger brother, Donald, had his identity stolen by Alex’s father. “They shouldn’t get to keep their citizenship.”
In 2010, the FBI busted a ring of sleeper agents for Russia that it had been following for years in the United States. All 10 pleaded guilty and were returned to Russia in a swap.
Alex and his brother maintain they didn’t know their parents were Russian, let alone Russian spies. The family’s story became the inspiration for The Americans, now in its sixth and final season on the FX network.
Alex Vavilov is now actively trying to find a job in Canada and has visited with his Canadian passport. He declined to be interviewed through his lawyer, who claims not to know where Alex lives. In court documents he claims to spend as little time in Russia as possible and in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Alex says he wants to work in Canada’s banking sector, get married and raise a family.