21 Savage said that children should get automatic U.S. citizenship if their parents migrate to the United States.
It was something he said on Thursday while receiving an award at a gathering for the National Immigration Law Center (NILC). The award was given to the rapper for being an advocate for immigration justice.
In February, Savage was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for overstaying his visa and remaining in the United States illegally.
The rapper was actually born in the United Kingdom and came to the States at age 7 after his parents moved, which many learned for the first time after the arrest.
After being detained for 10 days, the “Bank Account” rhymer was released on Feb. 12 with some legal assistance provided by Jay-Z. Savage still has to go to trial for the overstayed visa, and there’s a chance he could be deported.
His visa expired in 2006, and the U visa he applied for hasn’t been approved yet.
“When you’re a child, you don’t know what’s going on. Now, you grow up and got to figure it out,” said Savage during his speech. “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 … And since children had no part in making the decision to come to the U.S. they should be given a pass.”
“When you ain’t got no choice, you should be exempt,” he added. “It’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.”
