Atlanta rapper 21 Savage has become a trending topic on social media following reports of his arrest by ICE agents on Sunday.
Just ahead of Super Bowl LIII in what we believed was his hometown of Atlanta, the “I Am > I Was rapper was picked up by ICE early Sunday morning. The 26-year-old hip hop star reportedly entered the U.S. legally in 2005 but his visa expired one year later and he has been here illegally since.
The rapper born Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph reportedly is being held for removal proceedings for being in the country illegally and for being a convicted felon from drug charges he caught back in 2014. His attorney, Dina LaPolt, tells TMZ,
“We are working diligently to get Mr. Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with authorities to clear up any misunderstanding. Mr. Abraham-Joseph is a role model to the young people in the country — especially in Atlanta, Georgia and is actively working in the community leading programs to help underprivileged youths in financial literacy.”
However, an ICE spokesperson says 21 Savage is a U.K. national who is unlawfully in the country and has been since 2006 when his visa expired. The organization says 21 came to the States in 2005 at the age of 12. The rapper remains in ICE custody in Georgia and has been placed into removal proceedings before the federal immigration courts, TMZ reports.
It remains unclear what United Kingdom country or territory the rap superstar is from exactly, but some reports claim he hails from the Caribbean island of Dominica, which is an associated state of the U.K.
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