## Facts

- Peter Gabriel John McMullen, a former British soldier, deserted in 1972 and joined the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA).
- From 1972 to 1974, he participated in PIRA activities, including bombings of British military barracks.
- In 1974, he was arrested in Ireland, convicted of PIRA-related offenses (including membership), and imprisoned for three years.
- After release, he resumed PIRA involvement following intimidation, including housing members, training members, and coordinating illegal arms shipments from the United States to Northern Ireland.
- In 1978, after refusing a PIRA order to plan a ransom kidnapping, he fled to the United States using a visa obtained under another name and cooperated with U.S. authorities.
- The United Kingdom sought extradition for bombing-related offenses; a U.S. magistrate denied extradition under the treaty’s “political offense” exception.
- In immigration proceedings, an immigration judge granted withholding of deportation, but the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) reversed, finding McMullen barred from asylum and withholding due to “serious reasons for considering” he committed a “serious nonpolitical crime” abroad.

## Issues

1. Whether substantial evidence supported the BIA’s finding that McMullen was ineligible for withholding of deportation because there were “serious reasons for considering” he committed a “serious nonpolitical crime” outside the United States.
2. Whether the same finding rendered McMullen ineligible for asylum under the statutory “refugee” definition.
3. Whether the prior extradition determination that his conduct qualified as a “political offense” constrained the immigration analysis.

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit denied the petition for review and affirmed the BIA’s order.
- The court held substantial evidence supported the BIA’s determination that McMullen’s conduct triggered the “serious nonpolitical crime” bar.
- The court held the extradition “political offense” finding did not control eligibility for asylum or withholding.
- Because the statutory bar applied, McMullen was categorically ineligible for both asylum and withholding of deportation.

## Legal Principles

- An applicant is barred from asylum and withholding if there are “serious reasons for considering” the applicant committed a “serious nonpolitical crime” outside the United States.
- In evaluating whether an offense is “political” or “nonpolitical” for this bar, adjudicators may assess the political character of the offense, including whether the act is directed at the state, whether there is a direct link between objective and act, and whether the violence is atrocious or disproportionate to any claimed political aim.
- A “political offense” conclusion in extradition proceedings does not preclude a separate immigration determination that the same conduct is a “serious nonpolitical crime.”
- The court reviews the BIA’s factual determinations for substantial evidence.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit upheld the BIA’s denial of asylum and withholding, concluding that McMullen’s admitted participation in PIRA bombings and support activities (including arms procurement and training) supplied serious reasons to consider he committed a serious nonpolitical crime abroad, and the earlier extradition ruling did not alter that statutory bar.


McMullen v. Immigr. & Naturalization Serv., 788 F.2d 591 (9th Cir. 1986)