21 Savage Released Nine Days After Arrest By US Immigration.

Grammy-nominated rapper 21 Savage was granted release on bond
from US immigration detention Tuesday, his lawyers said — nine days
after his arrest sparked outrage among fellow music stars, fans and
immigrant rights advocates alike.

“Today, 21 Savage was granted a release on bond. He won his
freedom,” Charles Kuck, Dina LaPolt and Alex Spiro, representing 21
Savage, said in a statement. Kuck confirmed the rapper will be
released Wednesday.

21 Savage, whose real name is She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was
arrested February 3 in the southern city of Atlanta by Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who said he was British and
had been living in the United States illegally since overstaying
his visa from 2006.

His legal team did not immediately clarify what comes next in
the case of the 26-year-old rapper, whose chart-topping latest
album “I Am > I Was” was released in December.

Previously, they acknowledged that he was British, brought to
the US aged seven, and lost his legal status in the US when he was
a child “through no fault of his own.”

They also said he has a pending application for a U visa — for
victims of crimes who have faced mental or physical abuse in the US
— that was filed “as a result of being the victim of a deadly
shooting in 2013” — and that his three US citizen children make him
eligible for deportation relief.

On Tuesday, 21 Savage’s lawyers also passed on a message to the
young rapper’s fans, saying that while he was not at Sunday’s
Grammys Awards — “he was there in spirit and is grateful for the
support from around the world.”

Rapper Post Malone performed hit track “Rockstar,” which
features 21 Savage, alone at the show in Los Angeles. The song won
the pair two Grammy nominations.

A petition demanding 21 Savage’s release was signed by more than
460,000 people — with Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z and Democratic
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez among those backing the
campaign for his freedom.

AFP