Photo Credit: Ben Grieme
Rapper 21 Savage left Irwin County Detention Center in a private jet yesterday after 10 days of being detained by ICE for a decade of overstaying his visa from the UK. Interestingly enough, he may have gotten away with being here all of this time with an expired visa but it doesn’t appear the Trump administration is going to allow it much longer. Now to go over a few details of his case, he was detained without bond because ICE had the incorrect information that he had a felony conviction when in fact had been vacated. Such a conviction would have made him ineligible for bail. Court records from the fall had not been updated which is what caused the hiccup there.
While he was detained, ICE headquarters got involved. While it isn’t clear why, it likely had to do with the publicity of the case, so they probably stepped in to make sure it was done correctly. The headquarters found out he didn’t have a felony conviction and chose to keep him anyway. The reason has to do with a deportation rule Trump created in contrast to the Bush and Obama administration whereby people with pending visa applications here in the country illegally are to be deported. These orders were told to be followed even if the applicant has a sure fire way to remain in the country, like in 21’s case where he has dependents in the country. They can later return once their application is approved. He filed his application in 2017 and it takes ICE about 4 years to process them. ICE has also informed him that they will drop deportation proceedings against him if he just leaves on his own.
Congressman Hank Johnson who represents the area where 21 Savage was arrested said he feels that the rapper was only targeted because a few weeks before his arrest he had made a song criticizing the agency. Another fact is that ICE only detains people if they are dangerous or a flight risk. TMZ pointed out that he’s actually flown a plane before, so by definition, doesn’t that make a him a flight risk?
Glitzers, check out Congressman Hank Johnson’s words about it 21 Savage and whether he’s been targeted by ICE or not below: