Homeland Security Stonewalls Information on Citizenship Status of Bombing Suspects' Mother

Homeland Security Stonewalls Information on Citizenship Status of Bombing Suspects' Mother

Numerous phone calls and email requests by Breitbart News to the Department of Homeland Security to obtain information on the citizenship status of Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, 45, mother of Boston bombing ‘Suspect 1,’ the now deceased Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and ‘Suspect 2,’ captured Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, have gone unanswered.

Federal spokespersons have previously confirmed that her youngest son Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19,  became a naturalized American citizen on September 11, 2012, and that her oldest son Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26 at the time of his death Friday, was a permanent legal resident of the United States but not a naturalized American citizen. Press reports have stated that her now former husband Anzor Tsarnaev is a permanent legal resident of the United States, but there has been no official confirmation of these reports.

On Friday RT (Russian Television) reported that Zubeidat Tsarnaeva is an American citizen.  On Thursday, NBC reported that “Tsarnaeva, a naturalized American citizen, said that she is considering renouncing her citizenship.” Breitbart News has been unable to confirm either report with any official source.

Ms. Tsarnaeva came to the United States with her husband Anzor and son Dzhokhar in April 2002 on a 90 day tourist visa from the Russian republic of Dagestan. Shortly thereafter all three were granted asylum in the United States as refugees. She resided at 410 Norfolk St., Apartment 3, in Cambridge, Massachusetts from around 2003 until the second half of 2012, when she returned to live in Dagestan.

On Monday Breitbart News confirmed with the City of Cambridge Election Commission that Ms. Tsarnaeva was registered to vote in Massachusetts. Only American citizens can legally register to vote in any state of the union.

On June 13, 2012, Ms. Tsarnaeva was arrested on charges of shoplifting more than $1,600 in dresses from the Lord and Taylor Department store in Natick, Massachusetts. She failed to appear for her court date on those charges on October 25, 2012. By that time, she had fled the country and returned to Dagestan, where she currently resides.

Phone calls to the office of Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano referred us to Homeland Security Deputy Press Secretary Peter Boogaard. Three email requests from Breitbart News to Mr. Boogaard have gone unanswered.

Those emails ask these specific questions about Zubeidat Tsarnaeva:

1. Can you confirm that Zubeidat Tsarnaeva is an American citizen ?

2. If so, when and where did she become an American citizen ?

3. If not, what is her current immigration status?

As of the time of this story’s publication, those questions remain unanswered by the Department of Homeland Security.

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