21 Savage is, finally, a free man. After spending nine days in a notoriously harsh detention center outside of Atlanta, Georgia the rapper (real name She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph) has been released on bond. Rolling Stone confirmed the release with his legal team.
“In the last 24 hours, in the wake of the Grammy Awards at which he was scheduled to attend and perform, we received notice that She’yaa was granted an expedited hearing,” attorney Charles H. Kuck wrote in a statement.
Abraham-Joseph was arrested and detained by ICE earlier this month for overstaying a visa over a decade ago. Originally from England, he had been in the States since childhood. According to Kuck, the situation has been developing since then. Abraham-Joseph’s legal team “have been speaking with ICE to both clarify his actual legal standing, his eligibility for bond, and provide evidence of his extraordinary contributions to his community and society.”
It is unclear when Abraham-Joseph’s hearing will take place, how his legal team will proceed in arguing for his continued presence in America, or what the terms of his bond are. Rolling Stone spoke with a number of immigration lawyers and activists since Abraham-Joseph’s arrest, who collectively consider the case against him to be punitive and wildly complex. Also unanswered is why the rapper was picked up by ICE at this moment — he had applied for a U visa, which grants asylum to the victims of crimes, back in 2017 — but ICE has not specified the reasoning behind its recent actions.
According to the statement from his lawyer, Abraham-Joseph “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. And he asks for your hearts and minds to be with them.”
Read the full statement from Charles H. Kuck:
For the past 9 long days, we, on behalf of She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, known to the world as 21 Savage, have been speaking with ICE to both clarify his actual legal standing, his eligibility for bond, and provide evidence of his extraordinary contributions to his community and society.
In the last 24 hours, in the wake of the Grammy Awards at which he was scheduled to attend and perform, we received notice that She’yaa was granted an expedited hearing.
Today, 21 Savage was granted a release on bond. He won his freedom.
21 Savage asked us to send a special message to his fans and supporters—he says that while he wasn’t present at the Grammy Awards, he was there in spirit and is grateful for the support from around the world and is more than ever, ready to be with his loved ones and continue making music that brings people together.
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. And he asks for your hearts and minds to be with them.