Grammy-nominated rapper 21 Savage arrested by ICE, faces deportation

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Grammy-nominated rapper 21 Savage arrested by ICE, faces deportation

By Sharon Bernstein

 

FILE PHOTO: 2018 MTV Video Music Awards - Arrivals - Radio City Music Hall, New York, U.S., August 20, 2018. - 21 Savage. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - Grammy-nominated Atlanta-based rapper 21 Savage was arrested by U.S. immigration officials on Sunday, who said he was illegally in the country and a convicted felon.

 

The rapper, whose real name is Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, came to the United States from the UK as a teenager in 2005, overstaying his visa to settle in Atlanta, said Bryan Cox, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

 

Cox said Abraham-Joseph, whose 21 Savage Facebook page shows several upcoming concerts, was in custody in Georgia and faced deportation proceedings in federal immigration courts.

 

He said Abraham-Joseph was convicted on felony drug charges in Georgia in 2014, and was arrested on Sunday as part of a targeted operation with the cooperation of local law enforcement.

 

The rapper's lawyer, Dina LaPolt, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters on Sunday, but told the entertainment publication Variety that Abraham-Joseph was a "role model" who was working on financial literacy programs aimed at helping underprivileged youth.

 

"We are working diligently to get Mr. Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with authorities to clear up any misunderstanding," she said, according to Variety.

 

Cox said he did not know whether Abraham-Joseph, who media reports said is 26, would have been eligible for protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA program, which protects "Dreamers," young immigrants brought illegally to the United States as children. DACA does not cover people convicted of felonies.

 

Variety said the rapper performed as recently as Thursday in Atlanta as part of the run-up to Sunday's Super Bowl game in the city. His most recent album, "I Am > I Was," debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart, the publication said.

 

An ICE official told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that when Abraham-Joseph was arrested in 2014, ICE was not aware of his immigration status. It only learned later that he is allegedly from the UK, the official said.

 

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, California; Editing by Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-02-04

[MyFriend You]

Yeah, a role model for Gangsta Rap loving teens in Atlanta..............hope they show him no special arrangements and deports him, officially banning him from USA for life.  Yep, I want my kid to worship this guy with a prison tat on his forehead..........couldn't even get it straight. 

Edited February 7, 2019 by TunnelRat69

[Nyezhov]

I doubt his music is very good.

[sirocco]

Well agree with you.
Young people are hypnotized by tattoos, big arms, caps upside down, big earrings, gestures that mean nothing, but they have no notion of the reality of words that these rappers .
Finally, the first rapper "moderate" was the great artist Jean GABIN, with "now I know".
So, the little scum !!!

[sirocco]

which music?

The only things they know how to do is to nod their head, gesticulate, approach their head as close to the camera, make faces.