Sixteen-year-old Alex is a Canadian kid living the American dream. A house with his parents in a leafy suburb, family trips, good schools, and champagne on his brother’s birthday. But when the FBI comes knocking on his door, the high schooler’s world is shattered. His parents are arrested for being Russian secret agents, and the person he thought he was turns out to be a lie. After winding up in Russia, where he’s never been, and being given the surname Vavilov, which he can’t pronounce, he longs to return to Canada, sparking a legal battle over whether his parents’ role as spies should be grounds for cancelling his Canadian citizenship. Host Falen Johnson and journalist Catherine Rolfsen tell the story of Canada vs. Vavilov — the family that inspired the FX series The Americans — and how the ensuing court battle over their son’s Canadian citizenship forever changed how administrative government decisions are made. »»» Subscribe to CBC News to watch more videos: http://bit.ly/1RreYWS For breaking news, video, audio and in-depth coverage: https://www.cbc.ca/news Follow CBC News on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cbcnews Subscribe to CBC News on Snapchat: https://bit.ly/3leaWsr Subscribe to CBC News on WhatsApp: https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb6MSjH9Bb63S9tbQa1Y Download the CBC News app for iOS: http://apple.co/25mpsUz Download the CBC News app for Android: http://bit.ly/1XxuozZ »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» For more than 80 years, CBC News has been the source Canadians turn to, to keep them informed about their communities, their country and their world. Through regional and national programming on multiple platforms, including CBC Television, CBC News Network, CBC Radio, CBCNews.ca, mobile and on-demand, CBC News and its internationally recognized team of award-winning journalists deliver the breaking stories, the issues, the analyses and the personalities that matter to Canadians.