Daniel Ani would not have been kicked out of the United States had this case been twenty, or even ten, years ago.
Mr. Ani, who is a citizen of Nigeria, consistently testified that he was a member of a nonviolent group (MASSOB) that advocated for an independent state of Biafra. The Nigerian government strongly disliked that group. He said that the police attacked his group's meetings, shot and killed people, tortured him by putting a stick up his anus, kidnapped him, and did a wide variety of other despicable acts designed to persecute him for his political beliefs. And he has a contemporary newspaper article from a neutral reporter that describes his escape, by name, from one of these attacks by the government.
But Mr. Ani wanted to escape Nigeria so much that while here on a student visa, he paid someone $6,000 to marry him, and ultimately confessed to that scheme. Even though that sham marriage had nothing to do with his political persecution (other than perhaps being motivated by his desire to stay out of Nigeria), the immigration officer held that this lie, standing alone, was a sufficient basis upon which to hold that Mr. Ani was lying about everything he ever said. So you don't have to believe the newspaper article, the detailed and consistent testimony about political attacks (backed up by country reports), etc.
