21 Savage Released on Bond Pending Deportation Hearing

“He will not forget this ordeal or any of the other fathers, sons, family members, and faceless people, he was locked up with,” rapper’s lawyers say

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21 Savage, who was arrested earlier this month by Immigration And Customs Enforcement, has been released on bond pending a deportation hearing.

The rapper’s lawyers, Charles H. Kuck, Dina LaPolt and Alex Spiro, said in a statement, “21 Savage asked us to send a special message to his fans and supporters — he 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.”

The statement went on to say, “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.”

21 Savage was arrested on February 3 by ICE agents on the grounds that he was British and staying in the U.S. on an expired visa.

Days following the arrest, 21 Savage, whose real name is She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, confirmed through his representatives that he was born in the United Kingdom, saying he moved to the United States when he was 7 years old under an H-4 visa. He then  went back to the U.K. in  2005 and returned that same year.

In their statement Tuesday, his lawyers said the rapper was granted an expedited hearing.

“In the last 24 hours, in the wake of the Grammy Awards at which he was scheduled to attend and perform, we received notice that She’yaa was granted an expedited hearing,” the statement read.

“It’s unclear why ICE held 21 for so long because, by all rights, he should have been allowed to bond out the day he was arrested,” the statement went on to say. “He was neither a flight risk nor a danger to his community, which is the standard for holding someone in jail pending a deportation hearing.”

His lawyers said they had been speaking with ICE in order to “clarify his actual legal standing, his eligibility for bond, and provide evidence of his extraordinary contributions to his community and society.”

The news that the rapper was British threw many of his fans for a loop, as he’d long been associated with the Atlanta music scene. He’s said in interviews that his name “21” is a reference to a street gang in Decatur, a city northeast of Atlanta.

The rapper has received an outpouring of support from Hollywood and the music industry since his arrest.

The rapper was scheduled to perform at the Grammys on Sunday night, where he was also nominated in several categories. During the Grammy Awards, Childish Gambino producer Ludwig Göransson thanked  Savage while accepting the Grammy for Record of the Year. Metro Boomin also gave the rapper a shoutout during an appearance on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon,” wearing a jacket with the words, “Free 21 Savage.”

Read the full statement below:

For the past 9 long days, we, on behalf of She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, known to the world as 21 Savage, have been speaking with ICE to both clarify his actual legal standing, his eligibility for bond, and provide evidence of his extraordinary contributions to his community and society.  

In the last 24 hours, in the wake of the Grammy Awards at which he was scheduled to attend and perform, we received notice that She’yaa was granted an expedited hearing. 

Today, 21 Savage was granted a release on bond. He won his freedom. 

21 Savage asked us to send a special message to his fans and supporters–he 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.  

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. 

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