Devil Dog USA Incorporated has formally launched the Corporal Yegor Zubarev Veterans Housing, Citizenship, and Mental Health Access Bill, a national legislative effort designed to eliminate housing discrimination against student veterans, expedite naturalization for honorably discharged non-citizen veterans, and streamline mental health grant administration for veteran-serving organizations.

The bill is named in honor of Corporal Yegor Zubarev, a Marine veteran whose life embodied service, perseverance, and quiet leadership.

Yegor Zubarev was born in Russia and immigrated to the United States as a young man after his mother relocated in search of opportunity. He excelled academically, participated in high school athletics, and later enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. On October 22, 2010, in Durham, North Carolina, wearing his Class C service uniform, he became a United States citizen. He served as a legal services specialist with the 2nd Marine Logistics Group Staff Judge Advocate Office before pursuing higher education at Fordham University and later Columbia Law School.

Despite his service and academic achievements, Yegor experienced homelessness in 2013 when landlords refused to recognize his Post 9/11 G.I. Bill housing allowance as legitimate income.

His experience was not isolated.

After leaving the military in 2011, Gonzalo Duran, Founder and CEO of Devil Dog USA, encountered the same barrier. Housing discrimination against veterans using G.I. Bill benefits created a cycle of instability that often went unrecorded, as many veterans moved between temporary arrangements rather than entering the shelter system.

In response, Duran and Zubarev began advocating publicly for reform. Their work helped bring national media attention to the issue and contributed to the passage of New York City Local Law 119 in 2017, which strengthened the Human Rights Law to recognize G.I. Bill housing allowances as lawful income.

While Local Law 119 marked a significant victory, its protections were limited to New York City.

The newly launched Corporal Yegor Zubarev Veterans Bill seeks to address the issue nationwide.

The legislation does three things:

• Prohibits landlords and housing providers across the United States from refusing to rent to veterans solely because they receive housing allowances under chapter 33 of title 38, United States Code, commonly known as the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill.

• Provides priority naturalization processing under the Immigration and Nationality Act for eligible non-citizen veterans discharged under honorable conditions.

• Streamlines reporting requirements and reimbursement timelines for veteran mental health grant programs to ensure timely access to care.

The bill does not create new entitlements and does not increase taxpayer spending. It enforces commitments already made when service members signed enlistment contracts and stepped onto the yellow footprints at boot camp.

“Local reform proved change is possible,” said Duran. “National reform ensures that change is permanent.”

Yegor Zubarev passed away in December 2020 at the age of 33. At his funeral, his mother asked that his story be told fully. This legislation stands as part of that promise.