Immigration is complicated.

A lot of people recently discovered that rapper “21 Savage” is a native of the United Kingdom. Many fans thought that the rapper was simply a Black American born in East Atlanta. However, in the past few days fans and others have discovered that the rapper, whose real name is Shayaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was actually born in the UK.

When he ACTUALLY entered the United States is disputed. ICE, otherwise known as the U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (basically Immigration Detention) recently released a statement claiming that “21 Savage” entered the United States in July 2005. ICE also stated 21 Savage’s entry visa expired the very next year. ICE shared that the rapper received a felonious charge during his time in the U.S. A few days later, 21 Savage‘s attorney rebutted the accusations of ICE stating that 21 Savage arrived before July 2005, that his visa expired and was not renewed because he was a child, and that as an adult, the rapper has applied for a U-visa.

The internet has been nothing but English memes, immigration questions, and Demi Lovato hate. Let’s get to the root.

Soooo, Whats A U-Visa?

A U-visa is a non-immigrant status and defense reserved for immigrants who are victims of certain enumerated crimes. Some examples include kidnapping, torture, and rape. The requirements for a U-Visa are stringent and complex, but in short, victims work with local law-enforcement to prosecute those who commit the serious crimes against the said victims. Then, after certification from local-law enforcement and other complex procedures, those victims can seek out protection from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office.

Soooo, if he applied for a U-Visa in 2017, he should be good now, right?!

WRONG.

U-visa applicants can only apply for legal permanent residence (green cards) after being physically in the United States for three years continuously.

Additionally, only 10,000 U-visas can be issued per year and in January 2016 there was a reported backlog of 64,000 Applications for U-visas.

Well, if you have a pending U-Visa application, you should be able to stay in the U.S. and be good right?

Yikes.

Any violation of the U-Visa non-immigrant status – usually meaning any infraction or violation of the law - can result in attention from ICE.

Policy has previously held that only extremely serious crimes where a person prompted a national security threat, could result in deportation (we’re talking genocide). However in 2018, immigrant communities in the U.S. saw more immigrants with pending U-visa applications deported more than ever before.

21 Savage got money tho! He should be fine.

Well, no. He’s being held in ICE custody without bond. Meaning he could be held there indefinitely, until he receives an immigration court hearing. If deported, he would not be permitted to enter the US for 10 years. Deportees find it difficult to enter even after 10 years with such a charge on their immigration records.