McMULLEN

Citations

• 19 I. & N. Dec. 90

Syllabus

McMULLEN, 19 I&N Dec. 90 (BIA 1984) ID 2967 (PDF) (1) An alien seeking asylum or withholding of deportation under sections 208(a) and 243(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. Sec.Sec. 1158(a) and 1253(h)(1982), has the burden of showing that the persecution he fears is based on his race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. (2) The respondent's refusal, for reasons of personal safety, to carry out a kidnapping assignment ordered by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (\PIRA\) neither constitutes political opinion nor represents conduct which Congress intended to protect by its adoption of the asylum and withholding provisions contained in the Act. (3) Any person who ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in the persecution of others on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion is specifically excluded from the definition of \refugee\ under section 101(a)(42) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1101(a)(42)(1982), and is thus ineligible for asylum under section 208(a) of the Act similarly, such a person is prohibited from obtaining withholding of deportation under section 243(h)(2)(A) of the Act. (4) The statutory exclusion from the definition of \refugee\ of those persons who have participated in the persecution of others represents the view of the Congress that such persons are unworthy and undeserving of international protection. (5) The scope of the statutory exclusion of those persons who have participated in the persecution of others is not limited to acts committed in an official capacity but is equally applicable to acts committed within the framework of various nongovernmental groupings, whether officially recognized, clandestine, or self-styled, and this restriction applies even though the person so excluded may, in fact, be the subject of persecution and notwithstanding that his persecution of others was politically motivated. (