{"id":233527,"date":"2019-10-05T01:33:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-05T05:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=233527"},"modified":"2019-10-05T01:33:00","modified_gmt":"2019-10-05T05:33:00","slug":"21-savage-kids-in-us-illegally-should-become-citizens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/10\/05\/21-savage-kids-in-us-illegally-should-become-citizens\/","title":{"rendered":"21 Savage: Kids in US illegally should become citizens"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Grammy-nominated artist who was held this year in federal immigration detention told The Associated Press Thursday night that such immigrants also shouldn’t have to endure the lengthy process to obtain visas. (File Photo<\/a>: @21savage\/Instagram<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LOS ANGELES \u2014 Rapper 21 Savage believes immigrants like him who lived in America illegally as children should automatically become U.S. citizens.<\/p>\n

The Grammy-nominated artist who was held this year in federal immigration detention told The Associated Press Thursday night that such immigrants also shouldn’t have to endure the lengthy process to obtain visas. He spoke in an interview before receiving an award from the National Immigration Law Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you’re a child, you don’t know what’s going on,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, you grow up and got to figure it out. Can’t get a job. Can’t get a license. I’m one of the lucky ones who became successful. It’s a lot of people who can’t.\u201d<\/p>\n

NILC honoured 21 Savage for being an advocate for immigrant justice. He was arrested in February in what U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said was a targeted operation over his expired visa.<\/p>\n

He spent 10 days in a detention centre in southern Georgia before being released.<\/p>\n

The Atlanta-based rapper, whose given name is She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, is a British citizen who moved to the U.S. when he was 7. His visa expired in 2006, but his lawyers had said that wasn’t his fault.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you ain’t got no choice, you should be exempt,\u201d 21 Savage said. \u201cIt’s not like I was 30, woke up and moved over here. I’ve been here since I was like 7 or 8, probably younger than that. I didn’t know anything about visas and all that. I just knew we were moving to a new place.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said people in his situation should be made citizens.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we should be exempt,\u201d he reiterated. \u201cI feel like we should automatically become citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Federal immigration officials have known 21 Savage’s immigration status since at least 2017, when he applied for a new visa.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old rapper’s immigration case still remains pending a hearing before a new judge, according to his lawyer.<\/p>\n

21 Savage said the process to apply for a visa discourages a lot of other immigrants who don’t have documents because it \u201changs over your head forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just lose hope,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like kids who were brought here at young ages, they should automatically be like ‘Yeah, you good to stay here, work and go to college.’ It should be nipped in the bud before it gets to a point before you come of age.\u201d<\/p>\n

Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors applauded 21 Savage for becoming an advocate for social justice and for shedding light on immigrant issues for black people.<\/p>\n

\u201cUp until the moment when he was arrested, there wasn’t a nationally or public conversation about black immigrants,\u201d said Cullors, who introduced 21 Savage and handed him the Courageous Luminaries award. Her activist organization led a coalition to facilitate his release from ICE custody.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe conversation primarily revolved around Latinx immigrants,\u201d she added. \u201cHis detention really pushed a national conversation and it made us talk about what’s happening with black people who are undocumented. All the black people in America aren’t just citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

21 Savage was thankful for the award, but said there are countless immigrants battling to stay in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got a fight that we need to continue in this country,\u201d he said. \u201cIt ain’t over yet. Even after everything is cool with me, we still have to fight and help people who can’t fight for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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