Last night, 21 Savage was honored by the National Immigration Law Center (NHLC) for advocating immigrant justice, stating he believes every undocumented child in America should automatically become citizens.
Earlier this year, 21 Savage was held in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center for 10 days. The rapper, who's birth name is She'yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, moved to the United States from the U.K. at the age of seven years old. After living in the states for a while, his visa expired back in 2006, which he wasn't originally familiar with.
"When you're a child, you don't know what's going on," 21 Savage told the Associated Press. "Now you grow up and got to figure it out. Can't get a job. Can't get a license. I'm one of the lucky ones who become successful. It's a lot of people who can't."
He mentioned he was arrested back in February as part of a sting operation in his native city of Atlanta. He believes that people in his situation should be made citizens.
"I feel like we should be exempt," he said. "I feel like we should automatically become citizens."
21 Savage's immigration status has been on federal immigration officials' radar since 2017 after he applied for a new visa. As of now, his immigration case is pending for a hearing before a new judge. As he waits, 21 Savage was honored with the Courageous Luminaries award by the NHLC.
Although he's thankful for the award, he believes there are still countless battles this country faces in terms of addressing citizenship.
"We got a fight that we need to continue in this country. It ain't over yet. Even after everything is cool with me, we still have to fight and help people who can't fight for themselves."
Photo Credit: Getty Images