Rapper 21 Savage was arrested early Sunday morning in Atlanta by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who said he is an "unlawfully present United Kingdom national," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
ICE spokesman Bryan Cox said the 26-year-old rapper, whose real name is Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, came to the United States on a visa in July 2005, which expired in 2006. He was arrested in a "targeted operation," Cox said, and has been placed in "removal proceedings before the federal immigration courts."
21 Savage has said he's from Atlanta, and recently donated school supplies to thousands of local students. In 2014, he was convicted of felony-related drug charges in Fulton County, and an ICE official told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that ICE was not aware of his immigration status at that time.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.