London-born rapper 21 Savage claims he was “deliberately targeted” and tracked with a helicopter by immigration agents who said, “We got Savage” when they arrested him.
The 26-year-old, whose real name is Shayaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was seized on February 3 by officials who claim he is British and in the US illegally.
In his first interview since being released on a $100,000 bond, the Grammy-nominated star said he was pulled over while driving in Atlanta.
He told Good Morning America: “I just seen guns and blue lights. And then I was in the back of a car. And I was gone. They didn’t say nothing. They just said, ‘We got Savage’.
“It was definitely targeted. There was helicopters.” The Atlanta-based rapper clarified there was one helicopter.
His legal team suggested 21 Savage was the victim of a vendetta by officials at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following his criticism of President Donald Trump’s family separation policy at the US-Mexico border. ICE officials said the British citizen overstayed his visa and has an October 2014 felony conviction in Fulton County, Georgia.
They said he went to the US legally when he was 12, but his visa expired a year later and he has lived in the US illegally ever since. He was born in 1992, at Newham Hospital, east London.
Stars including Kendrick Lamar back the musician, while Jay-Z has hired a lawyer to help fight his deportation.
