Rapper 21 Savage was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Atlanta on Super Bowl Sunday and the agency claims the rapper is actually from the United Kingdom and is in the united states illegally.
Apparently the Atlanta-based entertainer came to the US as a teen on a one year visa that has expired.
Details below…
BREAKING- @ICEgov spokesman tells me @21savage was taken into custody by ICE. ?His whole public persona is false. He actually came to the U.S. from the U.K. as a teen and overstayed his visa.? MORE COMING
— Nick Valencia (@CNNValencia) February 3, 2019
The AJC?reports that 21 Savage, real name Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was apprehended in a ?targeted operation.?
ICE?spokesperson Brian Cox says that the 26-year-old Abraham-Joseph is a United Kingdom national who came to the U.S. as a teenager on a one-year visa in July 2005.
His whole public persona is false. He actually came to the U.S. from the U.K. as a teen and overstayed his visa.
21 Savage has long claimed Atlanta as his hometown, often discussing his rough childhood in interviews.
Shortly before the devastating news broke, Savage?s manager Kei Henderson tweeted the following cryptic message:
Worst day of my life.
— Kei (@keiopensdoors) February 3, 2019
Cox told CNN?s Nick Valencia. The rapper??failed to depart under the terms of his nonimmigrant visa and he became unlawfully present in the U.S. when his visa expired in July 2006.?
?Mr. Abraham-Joseph was taken into ICE custody as he is unlawfully present in the U.S. and also a convicted felon,? Cox added, referring to the rapper?s 2014 conviction on drug charges.?Abraham-Joseph has been detained by ICE and placed in ?removal proceedings before the federal immigration courts,?
Dina LaPolt, attorney for the entertainer, issued the following statement on the situation:
We are working diligently to get Mr. Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with the authorities to clear up any misunderstandings.
Mr. Abraham-Joseph is a role model to the young people in this country, especially in Atlanta, Georgia, and is actively working in the community-leading programs to help underprivileged youths in financial literacy.
Last August @yoh31 reported on 21?s third back-to-school drive in Atlanta: ?To see 21 Savage only for records like ?Red Opps?…and not acknowledge what?s being done through his [foundation], would be overlooking the duality of who he is as a person.? https://t.co/wXwBgJr5XG
— Mankaprr Conteh (@Mankaprr) February 3, 2019