The Atlanta-based, British-born hip hop star, whose real name is She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was arrested Feb. 3 for allegedly overstaying his visa.
Rapper 21 Savage has been released on bond from an ICE detention facility.
The Atlanta-based, British-born hip hop star, whose real name is She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was arrested Feb. 3 for allegedly overstaying his visa.
He was taken into custody over Super Bowl weekend by U.S. Immigration agents and was released after nine days in custody, his attorneys said.
“Today, 21 Savage was granted a release on bond,” his lawyers Charles H. Kuck, Dina LaPolt and Alex Spiro said in a statement.
His attorneys said they had been working with ICE to clarify Abraham-Joseph’s legal standing, eligibility for bond and prove the value of his societal and community contributions when they learned he would be granted an expedited hearing.
The news came “in the wake of the Grammy Awards at which he was scheduled to attend and perform.”
Abraham-Joseph, 26, addressed his fans and supporters through his attorneys, saying 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.
“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,” the statement said. “And he asks for your hearts and minds to be with them.”
Abraham-Joseph was born in the United Kingdom and legally arrived in the U.S. at the age of seven, his lawyers previously said. They noted his legal status expired in 2006 “through no fault of his own.”
One day after his arrest, Abraham-Joseph’s legal team said he never “hid his immigration status” and called his detainment a “civil law violation.”
“As a minor, his family overstayed their work visas, and he, like almost two million other children, was left without legal status through no fault of his own,” Kuck said in a statement obtained by the New York Daily News Feb. 4.
His attorneys said Abraham-Joseph has a pending application for a U-Visa, for which he applied in 2017.
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