Felipe Ramirez-Valdes v. Eric H. Holder Jr

MEMORANDUM

Felipe Ramirez-Valdes, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) denying him asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention Against Torture (“CAT”) relief. We remand for the BIA to consider intervening authority in the first instance.

Ramirez-Valdes, a former member of the Mexican Special Forces, claims that he has a well-founded fear of persecution for three reasons: his membership of a social group of military defectors; his apprehension that the Los Zetas gang will recruit and harm him; and his status as a whistle-blower. The BIA found Ramirez-Valdes ineligible for relief. It denied his asylum application as time-barred and denied his claims to withholding of removal and CAT relief on the merits.

We affirm the BIA’s denial of Ramirez-Valdes’s asylum claim on the ground that it was untimely. Asylum applicants must file their application within one year of entry into the United States. 8 U.S.C. § 1158 (a)(2)(B). However, that deadline can be equitably tolled if the applicant shows “extraordinary circumstances relating to the delay in filing an application within the period specified.” Id. §…