Following 21 Savage’s recent arrest by ICE, there were a lot of memes, but there was also a lot of genuine support from Savage’s peers in the hip-hop community: Black Lives Matter started a #Free21Savage petition, which was backed by Cardi B and others. Now Savage has another ally in his legal battle: Jay-Z.
Jay shared a statement about 21 Savage’s situation, writing, “The arrest and detention of 21 Savage is an absolute travesty, his U visa petition has been pending for 4 years. In addition to being a successful recording artist, 21 deserves to be reunited with his children immediately, #Free21Savage.” Additionally, his management company, Roc Nation, has hired attorney Alex Spiro to assist with Savage’s case. Spiro told TMZ:
“We are not going to stop until he is released, bonded out or in front of a judge […] What we have here is someone who overstayed their Visa with an application pending for 4 years — not a convicted criminal that needs to be detained and removed but, by all accounts a wonderful person, father, and entertainer who has a marijuana offense which was vacated and sealed.”
The most recent development in this story is that this morning, Savage clarified that he moved to the US when he was 7 years old, left the country for a month, and came back on a valid visa in 2005.
