The decision to deport rapper 21 Savage was made months before he was arrested and on Super Bowl Sunday in Atlanta, where he was held without bond because authorities wrongly believed he had a felony conviction.
It is unclear why ICE decided to wait so long before arresting the 26-year-old, real name She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, on February 3.
But immigration lawyer Matt Cameron, who has been following the case, pointed out that the arrest came shortly after 21 Savage debuted a new song criticizing the Trump administration’s child separation policy.
Rapper 21 Savage was pictured posing with his mother, Heather Joseph, as they prepared to board a private jet following his release from a Georgia ICE prison on Wednesday
‘[Ice] makes the decisions of how and when they pick people up,’ The Guardian quoted Cameron as saying.
The agency claimed at the time that the British-born rapper had overstayed his non-immigrant visa and possessed a criminal conviction for drugs – meaning he was not eligible to post bond.
The 21 Savage’s lawyer Charles Kuck said his 2014 felony conviction was sealed and vacated with all charges dismissed in 2018.
21 Savage’s arrest came just days after he debuted a new song criticizing the Trump administration’s child separation policy on Jimmy Fallon on January 28
According to TMZ, the rapper was held without bond because the court records had not been updated. But even when ICE headquarters in Washington D.C began looking into the case and discovered 21 Savage was not a felon, they still took the position that the rapper should not be released.
The British-born rapper was released on Wednesday from Irwin County Detention Center after he was granted a $100,000 bond by an immigration judge on Tuesday.
He had filed an application to remain in the U.S. in 2017, which will take at least four years to process.
21 Savage has a good chance of being granted leave to remain because he has three young American children, no convictions and has been in the country for around 15 years.
ICE Officials claimed 21 Savage was held without bond because he had a felony conviction in 2014 for drugs which his lawyers have denied, saying it has been sealed and vacated
But changes made by President Trump to the Obama-era immigration precedent mean immigrants are now being deported while their cases are still pending and can only return once it has been approved. In many cases it could take a decade.
Kuck said 21 Savage is next due to appear at an immigration court on April 11.
In the mean time, he has flown home to Atlanta on a private jet to be reunited with his family.
He was pictured posing with his mother, Heather Joseph, as they prepared to board the plane on Wednesday.
‘Today, 21 Savage was granted a release on bond. He won his freedom,’ the law firm representing him, Kuck and Baxter, posted on Facebook.
‘(H)e says that while he wasn’t present at the Grammy Awards, he was there in spirit and is grateful for the support from around the world and is more than ever, ready to be with his loved ones and continue making music that brings people together,’ they said.
He added that he ‘will not forget this ordeal or any of the other fathers, sons, family members, and faceless people, he was locked up with or that remain unjustly incarcerated across the country. And he asks for your hearts and minds to be with them.’
The rapper’s birth certificate shows he was born in London on October 22, 1992 at Newham Hospital, to British parents
ICE officials said the British citizen overstayed his non-immigration visa from 2005.
His lawyers have said the rapper was brought to the U.S. when he was 12 and his legal status expired in 2006 through no fault of his own.
According to his birth certificate, he was born on October 22, 1992, at Newham Hospital, in east London, to British parents, Heather Joseph and Kevin Emmons. He lived in the UK for 12 years before moving to Atlanta, Georgia.
His fans were shocked when he was arrested because they believed that he was born and raised in Atlanta given his thick Georgian accent. He has also never denied claims he was born and bred in the city where he is raising three young children.
The rapper quickly rose in the Atlanta underground music scene after a pair of 2015 mix-tapes. Collaborations with Atlanta artists including Metro Boomin and Offset of rap group Migos raised his profile.
He has also collaborated with Drake, Cardi B, as well as Post Malone.
ICE officials have accused him of living a ‘false’ life in the U.S. ‘His whole public persona is false. He actually came to the US from the UK as a teen and overstayed his visa,’ an ICE spokesman said.
21 Savage was released from detention on a $100,000 bond, according to immigration lawyer Tia Smith
21 Savage was scheduled to perform at Sunday night’s Grammy show prior to his arrest.
He was nominated for two awards at the Grammys, including record of the year for ‘Rockstar’ alongside Post Malone.
His legal team had previously raised the possibility that 21 Savage was the victim of a vendetta by ICE officials who were angered by his criticism of Trump’s family separation policy at the US-Mexico border.
His arrest prompted outcry from other musicians with Kendrick Lamar, DJ Khaled, Cardi B, SZA and Jay-Z all supporting the young rapper.
Jay-Z called the arrest and detention of 21 Savage ‘an absolute travesty’ earlier this month.
‘In addition to being a successful recording artist, 21 deserves to be reunited with his children immediately, #Free21Savage,’ Jay-Z wrote in a statement.
Other artists, such as Post Malone, showed their support backstage at the Grammys
Though the rapper isn’t signed by Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s record label responded to his arrest by hiring attorney Alex Spiro on the case.
His legal team characterized 21 Savage as a ‘Dreamer’ who has been the victim of a ‘great deal of misreporting’ that’s led to ‘false conclusions’.
‘Mr Abraham-Joseph has been continuously physically present in the United States for almost 20 years, except for a brief visit abroad,’ the statement said, referring to how he was deported for one month in 2005 at age 12 but returned on the H-4 visa.
‘Unfortunately, in 2006 Mr Abraham-Joseph lost his legal status through no fault of his own.
Savage called himself a ‘Dreamer’ before describing how he had ‘three US Citizen children’ and had been working on a U Visa before he was detained by ICE, in a statement released by his legal team (Pictured: Savage with his father and two sisters as a child)
‘Mr Abraham-Joseph, like almost two million of his immigrant child peers, was left without immigration status as a young child with no way to fix his immigration status. These ‘Dreamers’ come from all walks of life and every ethnicity.’
21 Savage’s team insist that he has very permanent ties to the country.
‘Mr Abraham-Joseph has three US Citizen children, a lawful permanent resident mother and four siblings that are either US Citizens or lawful permanent residents,’ the release said.
‘He has exceptionally strong ties in the United States, having lived here since he was in the first grade.
His team stated that the rapper was placed in deportation proceedings ‘AFTER’ his arrest, and that he wasn’t on the run from DHS as he had been working towards obtaining a U Visa since 2017.
‘This U visa was filed as a result of being the victim of a deadly shooting in 2013. That visa was filed in 2017 and remains pending,’ the statement added.
‘When granted, the U visa will afford him lawful status in the United States. Generally, ICE has recognized a pending facially valid U visa as a basis to delay removal proceedings and release individuals from custody.’