‘Nixon was trying to deport them’: John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s son describes ‘terrifying’ period in parents’ lives

John Lennon and Yoko Ono were not just a power couple because of their undeniable impact on music history. The couple were also dedicated activists and key players in the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War.  And this did not sit too well with the political powers at the time.

Their only son, Sean Ono Lennon, recently sat with PEOPLE to debut the reissue of his father’s album Mind Games, along with a multimedia box set that includes song remixes, reproductions of art pieces made by Lennon and Ono, posters, postcards, and much more. But Ono Lennon also took the time to share important details about his iconic parents’ relationship, including the trying moments where President Nixon wanted them deported.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono had the State Department on edge.

Lennon and Ono used their honeymoon to stage a “bed-in” protest in the Netherlands. They also recorded their iconic anti-war anthem “Give Peace a Chance” during a similar protest held in Montreal. This, among other anti-war gems like “Merry Xmas (The War is Over)”, was evidently powerful enough to have then-President Nixon threatened, especially as both Lennon and Ono were relentless in their activism. Furthermore, the power couple had billboards put up all around the world that read: “War is Over! If You Want It!”

Following all of this, the Nixon administration began to attempt to get Lennon deported from the United States. The President decided to send the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) after one of The Beatles on a phony drug charge. Nixon’s administration’s petty justification for Lennon’s intended deportation was a marijuana-related misdemeanor charge the musician had gotten in England over five years prior.

The deportation attempts ultimately failed, but that didn’t mean Lennon and Ono weren’t put through the wringer for the three years it lasted. As Sean Ono Lennon told PEOPLE, “The FBI were tailing them and tapping their phones.” 

In 2000, historian Jon Weiner published Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files, which included reproductions of the documents the FBI had on Lennon. The documents included reports on the daily lives of Lennon and other anti-war activists, transcripts of as well as Lennon’s TV appearances, memos from the White House relating to Lennon, and an order to arrest him on drug charges.

Sean Ono Lennon reflects on his parents’ “legendary love”

Sean Ono Lennon also reflected on how the deportation hearings and political issues put a strain on his parent’s relationship. The couple split in 1973, around the same time that Lennon’s album Mind Games was being released. While some people have pointed to this to claim that Mind Games is a breakup album, Ono Lennon can see his father’s love for his mother throughout the record. 

The whole album is about my mom. They’re mostly love songs about her… They had a legendary love and I think that this album is infused with that love. You can hear it.

Today, Ono Lennon bears the responsibility of managing his family’s musical legacy. Last year, he conceptualized the Academy Award-winning animated short film War is Over, based on his parent’s song, “Happy Xmas (War is Over).”  Ono Lennon described the reissued box set as a “monument to an album that I personally think is a masterpiece.” The set had a limited release this summer.