Immigration authorities were trying to "unnecessarily punish" and "intimidate" 21 Savage into giving up his fight to remain in the United States, his lawyer said Monday, as the rapper faces deportation and potentially a 10-year ban from reentering the country. The U.K. national, whose real name is She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, “never hid his immigration status” from the U.S. government and has a pending U visa as the victim of a crime, his attorney, Charles Kuck, said in a statement. The musician has U.S.-born children whom he supports, which could make him eligible to stay as well, Kuck said. Abraham-Joseph, 26, was taken into custody Sunday in the Atlanta area for allegedly being in the country illegally, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement. ICE spokesman Bryan Cox said that he was also convicted on felony drug charges in October 2014. ICE said the "unlawfully present" Abraham-Joseph was brought to the U.S. as a child legally in 2005 on a visa that expired a year later in July 2006. Kuck acknowledged that Abraham-Joseph and his family did overstay their visas. “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,” Kuck said Monday. But the lawyer denied the rapper had tried to hide his immigration status. “The Department of Homeland Security has known his address and his history since his filing for the U visa in 2017, yet they took no action against him until this past weekend," he added. The rapper was in ICE custody in Georgia and placed in removal proceedings before immigration courts, the agency said Sunday. Kuck said Abraham-Joseph was detained based on "incorrect information about prior criminal charges" but did not specify what he was disputing about the charges. ICE was refusing to release Abraham-Joseph on bond, he added. Abraham-Joseph was neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community, the lawyer said, adding, "in fact, his contributions to local communities and schools that he grew up in are examples of the type of immigrant we want in America." "We and he will fight for his release, for his family, and his right to remain in our country," he said. ICE did not respond immediately to requests for comment Monday. A U visa is a special category for victims of certain crimes “who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are helpful to law enforcement or government officials in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity,” according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Only 10,000 U visas are available each year. Kuck’s statement did not specify the incident based on which Abraham-Joseph applied for the visa. Anastasia Tonello, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said Abraham-Joseph could be facing "a pretty difficult case" if what ICE alleges is true. "He's in one of the most notorious jurisdictions for removal," she said. "Atlanta has a very high rate of denials on any type of discretion or relief." Tonello said the U visa application could help Abraham-Joseph's case if he receives deferred status while that case is pending. If deported, Abraham-Joseph potentially faces a ban from the U.S. of at least 10 years on the allegations that he overstayed his visa alone, and would need a waiver to come back to the country even as a visitor, she said. Tonello said that based upon when Abraham-Joseph's visa is said to have expired, he could have qualified for deportation relief under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2012 if he graduated high school, received his general education development (GED) certificate or was honorably discharged from the U.S. armed forces. Individuals do not qualify for DACA if they have been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanors or a series of misdemeanors. Because the rapper reportedly dropped out of high school and was convicted on drug charges in 2014, he would not have currently qualified for relief under DACA. The program allows children of immigrants who are in the country illegally to remain in the U.S. if they were younger than 16 when their parents brought them and if they arrived by 2007, she said. The administration of President Donald Trump moved to end the program in late 2017, but federal courts in San Francisco, New York and Washington, D.C., blocked that attempt. In January, the U.S. Supreme Court took no action on the program's future, a move that required the government to keep it going for at least 10 more months.<doc-sep>Today in news no one saw coming that has zero to do with the Super Bowl, rapper 21 Savage was apparently arrested by ICE and might be deported. Per TMZ, 21 Savage was arrested early Sunday morning in Atlanta, where he's previously claimed to be from. However, ICE reportedly says he's actually a U.K National whose visa expired in 2006. And Twitter is being...predictably Twitter-y. This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. when 21 savage said “everyday that i’m alive, ima ride w the stick” this is what he meant pic.twitter.com/nU3Mpz5Zzb — ro ☻ (@chateaudero) February 3, 2019 An ICE spokesman tells TMZ that 21 Savage is reportedly in custody and has—as the outlet puts it—"been placed into removal proceedings before the federal immigration courts." ICE will apparently await the "outcome of his case before a judge to determine future actions." 21 Savage's attorney Dina LaPolt tells TMZ, "We are working diligently to get Mr. Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with authorities to clear up any misunderstanding. Mr. Abraham-Joseph is a role model to the young people in the country—especially in Atlanta, Georgia and is actively working in the community leading programs to help underprivileged youths in financial literacy." This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Mehera Bonner Mehera Bonner is a news writer who focuses on celebrities and royals. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io<doc-sep>
A lawyer for 21 Savage released a statement Monday afternoon in the wake of the rapper’s arrest and detainment by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on Sunday. According to lawyer Charles H. Kuck, ICE refuses to release Savage, born Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, on bond of any amount, even though, Kuck said, the performer has a pending U-visa application, which is set aside for victims of crime, and has relief from removal available to him. “ICE has not charged Mr. Abraham-Joseph with any crime,” Kuck said in a statement. “As a minor, his family overstayed their work visas, and he, like almost 2 million other children, was left without legal status through no fault of his own. This is a civil law violation, and the continued detention of Mr. Abraham-Joseph serves no other purpose than to unnecessarily punish him and try to intimidate him into giving up his right to fight to remain in the United States.” Savage, who has lived in Atlanta since he was about 12, has three children who are U.S. citizens. However, in a statement released Sunday when he was detained, ICE officials are saying the rapper is a U.K. citizen. “Mr. Abraham-Joseph is presently in ICE custody in Georgia and has been placed into removal proceedings before the federal immigration courts,” ICE said in a statement. “ICE will now await the outcome of his case before a federal immigration judge to determine future actions.” But, Kuck said, “We and he will fight for his release, for his family and his right to remain in our country.” The 26-year-old rapper is currently being held “based on incorrect information about prior criminal charges” but has never hid his immigration status from the U.S. government, Kuck alleges. Fans and some fellow celebrities on Twitter were upset about Savage’s arrest. A coalition was launched Sunday in support of Savage. The organization Black Lives Matter drafted a #Free21Savage petition to stop his deportation. The effort was joined by several other immigrant rights and civil rights organizations, including UndocuBlack, Color Of Change and Define American. “The hundreds of ICE assaults and detention of black immigrants is an endemic in the United States and is too often carried out with the assistance of local law enforcement,” the petition reads. “The circumstances of Mr. Abraham-Joseph’s detention stand as a testament to the consistent and historically underreported harassment and targeting of black immigrants. The U.S.'s violent history of criminalizing blackness intersects with its deadly legacy of detaining and deporting black and brown immigrants. This needs to stop today.” sonaiya.kelley@latimes.com follow me on twitter @sonaiyak