Rapper 21 Savage has won back his freedom – for the time being.
The Grammy-nominated rapper, who was born Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was released from custody today on bond after being detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Atlanta.
ICE claims Abraham-Joseph is unlawfully present in the U.S. and also a convicted felon.
A deportation hearing is still pending.
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.
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.
The 26-year-old recording artist had been scheduled to perform at Sunday night’s Grammy show prior to his arrest.
Abraham-Joseph was nominated for two awards at the Grammys, including record of the year for “Rockstar” alongside Post Malone.
His second solo album “I Am I Was,” released in December, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
Officials claim that the British-born rapper has been living in the US illegally since overstaying his visa back in 2006.
“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,;’ said the rappers lawyer in a statement today.
FULL STATEMENT BELOW:
The rapper was born in England and moved to the United States with his family at the age of seven.
He has been here illegally for over a decade, but in 2017 applied for U-Visa according to his lawyer.
That application was still being processed when he was taken into custody.
Abraham-Joseph was arrested Super Bowl Sunday for violating immigration law.
According to ICE, he entered the U.S. legally in July 2005 but failed to depart and became unlawfully present when his Visa expired in 2006.
His release comes hours after a group of 10 civil rights organizations is delivered a petition with more than 445,000 signatures demanding the release of rapper 21 Savage by ICE today.
Organizers from #Free21Savage movement said they had an appointment to drop off their 450k petitions with authorities from Ice. Here's what happened when security guards met the organizers at the front gate. @FOX5Atlanta pic.twitter.com/u6m7Zd6eLa
— Portia Bruner (@PortiaFOX5) February 12, 2019
The organizations, which include Color of Change, Black Lives Matter Global Network, and AUC Shut It Down say that the rapper is still “unjustly detained by the Trump Administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement as they continue to target Black immigrants.”
Joseph-Abraham’s legal team compared the United Kingdom national to millions of so-called DREAMers, brought to this country as children whose immigration status expired through no fault of their own.
Rap legend Jay-Z came to the defense of 21 Savage, providing his New York-based attorney, Alex Spiro, to right what he called a travesty.