CNN sob story hides Russian illegal alien's violent past — but DHS doesn't let outlet get away with it

Nov 17, 2025 - 12:28
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CNN sob story hides Russian illegal alien's violent past — but DHS doesn't let outlet get away with it


A criminal illegal alien is expected to be deported more than a decade after his deportation order, but CNN's coverage of the case buries the violent details of his past. The Department of Homeland Security set the record straight as the criminal illegal alien is set to finally be removed Monday.

According to the DHS, Russian-born Roman Antatolevich Surovtsev was arrested on August 1 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

'It’s alarming that CNN can ALWAYS be counted on to run cover for VIOLENT FELONS. Imagine if they showed the same care for American citizens.'

He is expected to be deported Monday in compliance with a final order of removal issued by an immigration judge in November 2014.

CNN described Surovtsev as a "stateless person" given the fact that he fled the USSR and surrendered his citizenship. The 2014 deportation order also revoked his green card, the sole condition for his remaining in the United States.

RELATED: 'Climbing into the ceiling tiles': DHS immigration raids hit Charlotte, where 1 in 6 residents are foreign-born

Photo by Ryan Murphy/Getty Images

He has since routinely checked in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement until his arrest in August.

CNN, however, added a very different spin to the story, touting Surovtsev as a "loving dad" and a different person after a life of crime.

Only after more than a dozen paragraphs and a long litany of heart-wrenching familial anecdotes does CNN hint at Surovtsev's violent past: "In 2003, at 19 years old, Surovtsev began serving a 13-year sentence after helping some friends commit an armed carjacking of a motorcycle."

And this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin noted that Surovtsev has a "history of violence" with a rap sheet including "assault with a deadly weapon, multiple counts of burglary, multiple counts of carjacking, carjacking with a firearm, trespassing onto private property, multiple counts of taking a vehicle without owner consent, possession of a hypodermic needle/syringe, receiving stolen property, multiple counts of conspiracy to commit a crime."

In a statement on X, the Department of Homeland Security added that Surovtsev committed many of those offenses as an adult and accused CNN of covering for criminals: "It’s alarming that CNN can ALWAYS be counted on to run cover for VIOLENT FELONS. Imagine if they showed the same care for American citizens."

Surovtsev will reportedly be boarding a plane Monday to Ukraine along with 82 other deportees, according to a statement obtained by CNN.

“On Monday, the U.S. government plans to deport 83 people to Ukraine, where they will be conscripted into the army and likely killed. Ukraine is a police state where the population lives under martial law,” Surovtsev’s attorneys, Eric Lee and Chris Godshall-Bennett, said in an emailed statement.

"Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, if you break the law, you will face the consequences. Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S.," the Department of Homeland Security added.

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Fibis I am just an average American. My teen years were in the late 70s and I participated in all that that decade offered. Started working young, too young. Then I joined the Army before I graduated High School. I spent 25 years in, mostly in Infantry units. Since then I've worked in information technology positions all at small family owned companies. At this rate I'll never be a tech millionaire. When I was young I rode horses as much as I could. I do believe I should have been a cowboy. I'm getting in the saddle again by taking riding lessons and see where it goes.