On Sunday,February 3, 2019, rapper 21 Savage, who was born Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was arrested in the Atlanta area by Immigration and Customs Enforcement
ICE said in a statement that 26-year-old Savage was “unlawfully present in the U.S. and also a convicted felon.” It noted that he legally entered the country in 2005, though his team says he entered at age 7, merely visiting the United Kingdom for one month in 2005, and “lost his legal status through no fault of his own.” In a statement to Billboard, his lawyer Charles H. Kuck said the rapper had been detained based on “incorrect information about prior criminal charges.” Savage was arrested on drug charges in 2014, but, according to Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB, the charges were subsequently expunged. Kuck tells Billboard, “There is no conviction on his record. Period.”
Still, multiple immigration experts tell Billboard that expunged convictions -- even when removed from a person’s record under Georgia state law -- are generally still considered convictions for federal immigration purposes. Billboard.com
In a statement released Tuesday night (Feb. 5), Savage’s team of lawyers said, “Mr. Abraham-Joseph has three U.S. Citizen children, a lawful permanent resident mother and four siblings that are either U.S. Citizens or lawful permanent residents. He has exceptionally strong ties in the United States, having lived here since he was in the first grade. Because of his length of residence in the United States and his immediate relatives, Mr. Abraham-Joseph is eligible to seek Cancellation of Removal from an Immigration Judge.”
Source : Billboard.com Read Full Article
*Editor's note: A criminal charge is an accusation, by law, a person accused of a crime is innocent until proven in a court of law.