By Kiah Easton, Staff Writer
[Photo courtesy of 21 Savage/Epic Records]

Rapper 21 Savage was released on bond Wednesday after a total of nine days of being confined by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Atlanta, Georgia. After dropping the aggravated felony charge that previously provided reason for deportation, ICE’s priorities are causing reflection and anger from fans across the country.

Read more: 21 Savage arrested by ICE, claims of extended illegal US residency

Although Shayaa Bin Abraham-Joseph – also known as 21 Savage – has admitted to being born in the United Kingdom, there are several reasons ICE’s actions are gaining widespread disapproval. For one, after detaining Abraham-Joseph with no warning, ICE held him in jail with threats of deportation due to a drug-related charge from 2014.

Abraham-Joseph was born in the United Kingdom and came to the United States in 2005, remaining illegally after his visa expired in 2006. Savage later applied for a U-Visa in 2017 and thus, it can be argued that he has not hidden his immigration status from the officials. Although his status was known, ICE only took action now in a “targeted operation.”

After nine days in ICE custody, Abraham-Joseph’s 2014 charges were found to have been previously cleared. The charges were dropped and Savage is now out on bond, and in an interview with Good Morning America, he states he believes ICE was targeting him.

A statement from Abraham-Joseph’s lawyers, Charles Kuck, Dina Laporte and Alex Spiro, said that he “will not forget this ordeal or any of the other fathers, sons, family members, and faceless people he was locked up with or that remain unjustly incarcerated across the country.”

There has been a significant amount of anger directed towards ICE for their treatment of 21 Savage, and many fans have noted that this reveals ICE’s pursuit of thousands of people in the U.S. If 21 Savage wasn’t a public figure, chances are he’d already be back in the United Kingdom.

Check out “A&T”, a single from 21 Savage’s latest project, I Am I Was, below: