21 Savage’s Team Released An Official Statement
Matt Swinsky21 Savage’s legal team has released an official statement following the rapper’s arrest by ICE over the weekend.
As previously reported, Savage, a U.K. national who’s been living in the U.S. illegally since his visa expired in 2006, was arrested during a targeted operation on Sunday and may now be deported. Now, the rapper’s lawyer, Charles H. Kuck, claims he is currently being held by ICE without bond, despite the fact that he has not been charged with any crime.
“[21 Savage] has never hid his immigration status from the U.S. government. The Department of Homeland Security has known his address and his history since….2017, yet they took no action against him until this past weekend,” Kuck’s statement reads.
Kuck then accuses ICE of attempting to “intimidate [21] into giving up his right to fight to remain in the United States,” noting that ICE is only allowed to detain people who are a threat to the community or a flight risk, and the rapper is neither.
As for why the rapper overstayed his visa, Kuck explains, ” 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.”
Noting that Savage has “U.S. citizen children that he supports and is eligible for relief from deportation,” Kuck concludes, “We and he will fight for his release, for his family, and his right to remain in our country. No one would expect less from him.”
Kuck further claimed that 21 could be eligible to remain in the United States, because in 2017, he applied for a special visa for those who’ve been victims of a crime while in the U.S. In 2013, he was shot and his close friend was murdered.
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