Alex Vavilov was stripped of citizenship after the FBI arrested and deported his parents from the US in 2010The son of two deep-cover Russian spies says he feels “an overwhelming sense of relief” after winning his long-running battle to regain his Canadian citizenship. Alex Vavilov was stripped of his citizenship after the FBI arrested and deported his parents from the US in 2010, exposing their Canadian backstories as fake. I feel vindicated that the courts ultimately supported my own beliefs regarding my citizenship,” Alex told the Guardian by telephone. The court case hinged on a provision of Canadian citizenship law whereby anyone born in Canada is eligible for citizenship except employees of foreign governments. The Canadian government had argued that the secret work of Elena and Bezrukov should cancel their sons’ right to citizenship, but the supreme court disagreed.

Source: The Guardian December 19, 2019 18:30 UTC