Over a turbulent week, at least some and maybe all have discovered that mum and dad are not who they said they were. The children's citizenship, family history, and even their very names have been called into question.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/bre...-1225887380709
At least two children involved in the case, ages 1 and 3, will soon be headed for Russia. Of the 11 people charged this week with being members of a Russian spy ring, eight were parents.
Collectively, they are believed to have eight children, although, like much else associated with this strange post-Cold War spying case, the true facts are hazy.
Some of the older children are likely already wrestling with questions about their identities.
Juan Lazaro Jr, a gifted 17-year-old pianist at New York's LaGuardia High School of the performing arts, was named after his father. But the FBI said this week that dad's name was fake, as was his claim to have been raised in South America.
Tim Foley, a 20-year-old student at George Washington University, has said he was born in Toronto and grew up in Paris and Boston. Now his true birth country has been called into question. Prosecutors say they have evidence the family is actually Russian.
Two girls growing up in suburban Montclair, New Jersey, ages 7 and 11, were given the last name Murphy, but prosecutors said that was a lie, too.
"While the FBI has spent years conducting extensive electronic and physical surveillance of the people who call themselves the Murphys, there is no indication that the Murphy's children have any inkling that their parents are, in truth and in fact, Russian secret agents," Assistant US Attorney Michael Farbiarz wrote in a court filing.
The future of those children, at least the youngest ones, is now in question. Who will take care of them if their parents remain in prison? Do they have extended families in Russia they have never met? Are they all American citizens?
US immigration officials have declined to comment on the children's' status, citing privacy rules, but note that any person born in the United States is a citizen by right, except in certain cases involving the children of diplomats or other foreign government workers.
At least two of the children, the toddler and pre-schooler whose parents posed as American Michael Zottoli and Canadian Patricia Mills, will be going to Russia. Federal prosecutors said the couple acknowledged they are Russian citizens and instructed a family friend now caring for the children to contact relatives in Russia to arrange for the youngsters to go there.
By most accounts, the couples charged in the case appeared to be caring parents. Several raised children who excelled.
Tim Foley reportedly speaks English, French and German and said he was learning Chinese. He said he was majoring in International Affairs with a concentration in Asian studies, and has written about his plan to spend a semester in Beijing.
His 16-year-old brother, Alex, attended the International School of Boston, a private high school where some classes are taught in French and the theme is "shaping global citizens".
The two sons were in court Thursday to watch a hearing in their parents' case. The couple smiled at the boys and Alex waved in return.
Juan Lazaro Jr could be reunited soon with his mother, Vicky Pelaez, also a defendant in the case and one of the few suspects to use a real name. She could be released on bail.
His father has allegedly acknowledged his name was fabricated and that he had been working for the Russian intelligence service.
Authorities have not revealed the whereabouts of 11-year-old Katie and 7-year-old Lisa Murphy, who were last seen by neighbours being led from their home on the day of their parents' arrest, carrying backpacks and pillows.
The citizenship of the children of the couple known as Zottoli and Mills is unclear, although they, too, were born after their parents had settled in the US.
Former neighbours in Seattle, where the family lived before moving to Virginia last year, remembered the couple as doting on their now 3-year-old son, Kenny, and recounted how they gave him the master bedroom so he would have space to run around.
The tot may now find himself learning a new language in a new country, but possibly without his parents, who could get up to 25 years in jail if convicted.
"At least two children involved in the case, ages 1 and 3, will soon be headed for Russia. Of the 11 people charged this week with being members of a Russian spy ring, eight were parents.
US immigration officials have declined to comment on the children's' status, citing privacy rules, but note that any person born in the United States is a citizen by right, except in certain cases [like when they're WHITE?
The citizenship of the children of the couple known as Zottoli and Mills is unclear, although they, too, were born after their parents had settled in the US."
Comment:
White children they deport, Mexicans get to stay. How is this fair? At least the children of illegal Mexicans are familiar with the Mexican culture, and most speak Spanish. The older of these kids will have to learn a new language, and they know little or nothing about Russia. They are being forced to go to a completely alien environment, yet they were born in this country. Something just isn't right about this.
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