NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ___________ No. 18-3242 ___________ KOUAME TANOH, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent ____________________________________ On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Agency No. A073-168-171) Immigration Judge: Honorable John Ellington ____________________________________ Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) June 6, 2019 Before: KRAUSE, SCIRICA and NYGAARD, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: August 5, 2019) ___________ OPINION * ___________ PER CURIAM * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. Kouame Tanoh, proceeding pro se, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirming a decision of an Immigration Judge (“IJ”) denying his applications for relief from removal. We will deny the petition in part and dismiss it in part. Tanoh is a native and citizen of the Ivory Coast. He was admitted to the United States in 1992 as a visitor. Tanoh was placed in removal proceedings in 1997 and charged with staying here longer than permitted. The proceedings were administratively closed when Tanoh did not appear for a hearing. In 2015, Tanoh was convicted of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in federal court. The Department of Homeland Security filed additional removal charges in 2018 alleging that Tanoh was convicted of aggravated felonies. An IJ sustained the removal charges and Tanoh applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). In support of his applications, Tanoh testified before the IJ that he was a member of a teacher’s union and a leader of youth in the Ivorian Popular Front party in the early 1990’s. Both groups were fighting for democracy. He stated that Alassane Ouattara became Prime Minister and that Laurent Gbagbo, the Ivorian Popular Front leader, and his supporters were tortured. Tanoh said that he was not physically harmed, but his salary was suspended many times. Tanoh left the Ivory Coast in 1992 because he believed there would be problems there. Tanoh also testified that there were controversial elections in the Ivory Coast in 2010. Gbagbo was declared President, but an international coalition placed Ouattara in 2 power. He said that there was civil war and genocide in the area where Gbagbo was from, and that Gbagbo was charged with crimes against humanity that would be heard in the International Crimes Court. Tanoh believes the charges were made up. Tanoh stated that the government in the Ivory Coast will harm him as he has posted political messages and his picture with Gbagbo on Facebook. He said that he is well known in the Ivorian Coast community in the Washington D.C. area. The IJ found Tanoh credible and noted that he had a religious conversion in prison but concluded that he did not meet his burden of proof for asylum or withholding of removal. The IJ ruled that Tanoh had not suffered past persecution and did not have a well-founded ...
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