21 Savage was arrested on Sunday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) who allege the Atlanta rapper is a United Kingdom national who stayed in the U.S. illegally.
Rapper 21 Savage, who has long said he is from the US state of Georgia, was detained as officials say he is from the UK and overstayed his American visa.
An ICE spokesperson told CNN’s Nick Valencia per the journalist’s tweets. “He actually came to the U.S. from the U.K. as a teen and overstayed his visa.”
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
BREAKING- @21savage was in the car with another rapper who was the target of a criminal arrest. 21 was taken into custody by law enforcement after they learned of his immigration status. “There is no misunderstanding. 21 Savage is a British National.”: Law Enforcement source
— Nick Valencia (@CNNValencia) February 3, 2019
He wasn’t the target. Another rapper was. 21 got caught up while in the car. It wasn’t a targeted immigration detention as initially implied in the ICE release https://t.co/hfZaVl6btD
— Nick Valencia (@CNNValencia) February 4, 2019
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, ICE spokesperson Bryan Cox said 21 Savage, whose given name is Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was arrested at a traffic stop in Atlanta, along with three other people, during which ICE discovered his immigration status. The rapper allegedly received a one-year visa in July 2005.
The rapper’s lawyer Dina LaPolt said: “We are working diligently to get Mr. Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with the authorities to clear up any misunderstandings.”
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