ICE releases 21 Savage after being detained for expired visa

Halle Coleman

Staff Writer

21, 21, 21. One of America’s most respected new rappers, 21 Savage, born She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was arrested and detained in Atlanta, Ga. by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Feb. 2.

ICE alleged that the 26-year-old has been illegally living in the United States since 2006 because he is actually a citizen of the United Kingdom.

Both of Savage’s lawyers and an official copy of his birth certificate confirmed that he was born on Oct. 22, 1992 in Newham, London.

In a statement released Feb. 12 to the public, his attorneys stated, “Mr. Abraham-Joseph was born in the United Kingdom. Mr. Abraham-Joseph arrived legally in the United States at the age of seven under an H-4 visa. He remained in the United States until June 2005, when he departed for approximately one month to visit the United Kingdom. He returned to the United States under a valid H-4 visa on July 22, 2005. Mr. Abraham-Joseph has been continuously, physically present in the United States for almost 20 years, except for a brief visit abroad.”

Many fans were shocked to find out that Savage was born in the UK. He has given off, to some, the perception that he was from the eastside of Atlanta, known as “Zone 6.”

Rapping lyrics such as “Straight up out the 6, now I got a house in the hills dawg,” in his 2017 hit, “Bank Account.”

Questions have also arisen as to how 21 Savage was able to stay in the U.S. for so long with a criminal record.

He was arrested in 2014 in Fulton County, Ga. on the account of felony drug charges. Although he pleaded guilty and was convicted of those charges, they were expunged from his criminal record last year.

This may have caught the attention of ICE because in that same year, 21 Savage applied for a U visa.

A U visa is a non-immigrant visa that is reserved for victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are helpful to law enforcement or government officials.

21 Savage and his representative team actually believe that his performance on the “Tonight Show” caused ICE to arrest him out of revenge.

Remixing his new record, “A Lot” while performing on the show he rapped, “Been through some things so I can’t imagine my kids stuck at the border. Flint still need water. People was innocent, and couldn’t get lawyers.”

A’Darius Craft, a junior business administration major from Gulfport, Miss. does not agree with the detaining.

Craft stated, “I don’t agree with 21 Savage being detained because I feel like he’s been here long enough. If he was going to be detained it should have been a long time ago.”

Khalidah Francis, a sophomore psychology major from Port St. Lucie, Fla. thinks the influence he has on people’s lives in the U.S. should keep him here.

“It doesn’t make sense for him to get shipped back over to the UK. He came in 2006,” she exclaimed, “You cannot do anything about it because his whole life is here now and he’s influencing a lot of people so it’ll be sad and pointless if he goes back over there,” said Francis.

Savage is currently being held in Irwin County Detention Center, which has a brutal history and reputation as one of the worst immigration detention centers in the United States.

In a tweet, Savages’s co-manager Stone Mound Meezy, revealed that the rapper is on lockdown for 23 hours of the day with no TV or any means of communication besides a few ten-minute phone calls.

If actually deported, Savage will leave behind three young children. He was also nominated for a Grammy this past weekend, but was not in attendance.