DISCLAIMER:  The following unofficial case summaries are prepared by the clerk's office
                        as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.

073443P.pdf   11/03/2008  Noel Malonga  v.  Michael B. Mukasey
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  07-3443
   Board of Immigration Appeals   
   [PUBLISHED] [Bright, Author, with Riley and Melloy, Circuit Judges]
Petition for Review - immigration. Decision denying asylum to Noel Malonga, a member of the Lari ethnic group of the Kongo tribe, is affirmed, as asylum application was untimely and this court is precluded from reviewing the decision refusing to excuse the untimely application. Decision to deny withholding of removal is reversed, as immigration judge applied incorrect legal standard as 8 C.F.R sec. 1208.16 requires. Notwithstanding size of group, Lari ethnic group constitutes a particular social group for purposes of withholding or removal. Decision denying relief under the Convention Against Torture is affirmed as the record is not convincing to compel a reasonable fact finder to determine it is more likely than not he would be tortured if he returned to the Congo. Judge Riley dissents in part on whether Malonga's ethnicity is a particular social group.