432
Opinion of the Court
It is true the Attorney General has suggested that a crime will not be deemed political unless there is a " 'close and direct causal link between the crime committed and its alleged political purpose and object.' " Deportation Proceedings for Doherty, 13 Op. Off. Legal Counsel, at 23 (quoting McMullen v. INS, 788 F. 2d 591 (CA9 1986)). The BIA's analysis, which was quite brief in all events, did not explore this causal link beyond noting the general disproportion between respond-ent's acts and his political objectives. Whatever independent relevance a causal link inquiry might have in another case, in this case the BIA determined respondent's acts were not political based on the lack of proportion with his objectives. It was not required to do more. Even in a case with a clear causal connection, a lack of proportion between means and ends may still render a crime nonpolitical. Moreover, it was respondent who bore the burden of proving entitlement to withholding, see 8 CFR § 208.16(c)(3) (1995) ("If the evidence indicates that one or more of the grounds for denial of withholding of deportation . . . apply, the applicant shall have the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that such grounds do not apply"). He failed to submit a brief on the causal link or any other issue to the BIA, and the decision of the Immigration Judge does not address the point. In these circumstances, the rather cursory nature of the BIA's discussion does not warrant reversal.
III
Finally, respondent contends the record of his testimony before the Immigration Judge contains errors. He testified in Spanish and now contends there are errors in translation and transcription. Brief for Respondent 11-22. Respondent advanced this argument for the first time in his Brief in Opposition to Certiorari in this Court, see Brief in Opposition 1-5, having failed to raise it before either the BIA or the Court of Appeals. We decline to address the argument at this late stage.
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