21 Savage Says He Was Targeted By ICE: There Were Guns & Helicopters

21 Savage

21 Savage Says He Was Targeted By ICE: There Were Guns & Helicopters 

After being released on bond in his pending deportation case, rapper 21 Savage did his first televised interview since being detained by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement.)

On February 3, rapper 21 Savage was arrested by ICE in a targeted operation to deport him because (to the shock of many fans) he is not as U.S. citizen. The 26-year-old rapper was born in the U.K. and lived there until he was 7 years old. Fans assumed that he was born and solely raised in Atlanta, but ICE claims that his visa expired back in 2006.

21 Savage has since been released on bond, but his deportation issues and possibility that he could be sent back to the U.K. permanently, are far from over.

Of his February 3 arrest, 21 Savage said:

“I was just driving. And I just seen guns and blue lights. And, then, I was in the back of a car. And I was gone. They just said, ‘We got Savage.’ It was definitely targeted. There was helicopters.”

Discussing his visa status and being in the U.S. illegally, 21 Savage explained:

“I didn’t even know what a visa was. I was seven when I first came here. And we had left in, like, 2005 ’cause my uncle died, my Uncle Foster. So we went back to go to his funeral, and, then, we came back. So that’s why I think [ICE] got it confused where they thought, like, that was my first coming. I went into first grade here [in the U.K.], so I don’t really remember too much. I remember, like, my grandma house, and that’s probably about it. I didn’t really do much there. I’ve been Atlanta probably 20 years, 19 years. I’m from Atlanta, in my eyes.”

When asked about his fears of being deported and leaving the U.S. permanently, he admitted that he is indeed afraid:

“Yeah, but I feel like I done been through so much in my life, like, I learned to embrace the times when I’m down ’cause they always build me up and take me to a new level in life. So it’s like even if I’m sitting in a cell on 23-hour lockdown, in my mind, I know what’s gonna come after that. So I’m not happy about it. But I’m accepting of it.”

Elsewhere, one of the rapper’s, attorneys Dina LaPolt, slammed the Trump administration’s policies on immigration, saying that she believes her client was definitely targeted to send a message:

“The Trump administration, their policies on immigration have been pretty debilitating. And I think that, you know, they look for ways to make examples of people.”

Even though 21 Savage is out on bond, his deportation issues will continue. He still must face an official hearing to decide his fate on staying in the U.S.

You can check out clips from his interview BELOW:

Rapper 21 Savage tells @ABC News' @LinseyDavis that he was "definitely targeted" by ICE in exclusive interview on @GMA. https://t.co/6hOI6VROMv pic.twitter.com/BUgNTKOmzD

— ABC News (@ABC) February 15, 2019

EXCLUSIVE: 21 Savage in first interview since his release on bond from ICE custody: "I knew I wasn't born here, but I didn't know what that meant as far as when I transitioned into an adult, how it was going to affect my life." https://t.co/6hOI6VROMv pic.twitter.com/n4Z45vFRsR

— ABC News (@ABC) February 15, 2019

.@ABC News' @LinseyDavis: "Do you have that concern now, that you might be kicked out?"

21 Savage: "Yeah, but I feel like I done been through so much in my life, like, I've learned to embrace the times when I'm down 'cause they always build me up." https://t.co/6hOI6VROMv pic.twitter.com/glHYDsPgMq

— ABC News (@ABC) February 15, 2019

What do you think about the 21 Savage interview? Do you think he will be deported? Let us know in the comments.