It’s been nine months since 21 Savage was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for overstaying his visa. Savage was locked up for 10 days at that time after charged he was living in the United States illegally.
As reported, the rapper was actually born in the United Kingdom and came to the U.S. with his family at the age of 7 in 2005. His visa expired one year later, and he also applied for a U visa some time ago, but he’s still waiting for it to be approved.
Now, it’s been reported the arrest has tremendously hurt Savage’s ability to tour, and until his case is resolved he can’t leave the U.S. to play shows.
In fact, the “A lot” rapper couldn’t play domestically until last month, when he finally obtained a work permit.
And to make things worse, he hasn’t been given a court date to determine his fate. Reportedly, the immigration courts are severely backed up, and some people in the same situation as the 27-year-old have been given a court date for 2022.
Savage initially had a deportation hearing scheduled for April 9, but it was postponed and never rescheduled.
Around that time, Charles Kuck, who’s Savage’s immigration lawyer, talked about the shortage of judges, particularly those that only deal with people no longer being detained by ICE. And even then Kuck said he had no idea when Savage’s hearing would be.
“They don’t have enough nondetained judges, so his case is waiting to be assigned,” he explained. “I can’t give anybody, even him, a date as to when that might be.”
In October, the “Bank Account” creator received an award from the National Immigration Law Center for being a voice for immigration justice. And during his speech, he said children of parents who migrate to the States should receive U.S. citizenship automatically.
