*Days after 21 Savage was arrested for reportedly overstaying his visa, Jay Z has spoken out in support of the detained rapper and has hired a lawyer to help with his citizenship case.
Attorney Alex Spiro confirms to E! News that he is helping assist in the Savage case after being hired by Jay and Roc Nation.
In addition, Jay-Z shared the following statement with E! News, calling 21’s arrest a complete “travesty.”
“The arrest and detention of 21 Savage is an absolute travesty, his U visa petition has been pending for 4 years,” he shared in a statement to E! News. “In addition to being a successful recording artist, 21 deserves to be reunited with his children immediately #Free21Savage.”
OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: 21 Savage: Lawyers Say Rapper Never Hid Immigration Status
21 Savage, real name She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was arrested and detained in Atlanta on February 3 by ICE agents, with the department saying that he is a British citizen who “is unlawfully present in the U.S.”.
His lawyer has since confirmed that the rap star was born in London, clarifying that he moved to the U.S. with his parents at the age of 7 and that his legal status expired in July 2006 “through no fault of his own.”
21 has also claimed through his lawyers that he applied for a new visa in 2017, with his legal team saying that they now “will do everything possible to legally seek his release and pursue his available relief in immigration court”.
The case has even attracted the attention of Georgia state Rep. Hank Johnson, who penned an impassioned character letter to the immigration judge in charge of the case.
“I know [21] to be a remarkable young man,” Johnson writes. “He spends his time giving back to our community and has been living a life of paying it forward. I believe that it would be a serious hardship to [21’s] family and a loss for our community, if he is not allowed bail so that he can be released from detention.
“He has been an outstanding figure and influence within his family and within Atlanta.”
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