Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/02/04/21-savages-lawyer-says-ice-c.html
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21 Savage… “never hid his immigration status from the US government.”
You thought you’d get some brownie points for obeying the law? That’s not how this works any more. There are no brownie points.
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I’ve been trying to wrap my head around this case since first hearing about it - a “British rapper who pretended to grow up in Atlanta,” as it was presented. Except he might not be British, he came here when he was 12-13 (so he certainly spent a good chunk of his childhood years growing up in Atlanta), and obviously it wasn’t his decision to overstay his original visa, since he was a kid.
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Well, we all know how the tRump admin and ICE feel about the dreamers…
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But he wasn’t obeying the law, he was just being honest about disobeying it. Openly disobeying a law doesn’t help anything. For example, here’s a case of a guy who created, used, and publicly announced his use, of an illegal machine gun. He was very honest about it, even sent letters to some the governor or something like that. It did not give him any brownie points. He went to federal prison. He wasn’t hurting anyone, had no criminal record, no criminal intent, wasn’t hiding his activities, and was old and in poor health. He was, however, violating a federal law, and was punished for it.
The difference here is that Mr. 21 Savage isn’t being punished. He is having an administrative process to return him to his home. That’s not punishment. It’s exactly what would happen to an American who went to the UK and remained illegally.
Sovereignty. It’s a thing that means having and enforcing immigration laws. Sovereignty doesn’t mean being nice to everyone.
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ICE is deliberately trying to manipulate the media narrative.
https://twitter.com/aurabogado/status/1092178524864053248?s=21
Yup.
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Because a man deliberately winding up the government by building machine guns is exactly the same as a 12 year old staying with his parents. Suuuurrrrre.
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Did you visit any places as a young teen? Would you consider them home? Do you feel it would be no punishment if you were exiled to a place you haven’t seen in a decade or so, where you might know nobody at all? Hey, at least they speak English, right? Do we need a wall across the Atlantic?
If not, why not?
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So no country anywhere was “sovereign” until the 19th century then?
REVISIONIST HISTORY: It’s a thing that means misrepresenting the bigotries and atrocities of the moment as immutable and eternal natural laws.
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Waaaaaait a minute.
That’s not what sovreignty means at all. (Except to right-wing racists.)
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Um. He’s been arrested and is being threatened with permanent extradition from the United States, and you think he’s not being punished? What’s the threshold for punishment, a physical beating? Would it make you happier if they roughed him up for being a black guy?
As he says, he’s been completely up-front about his immigration status and the fact that he was brought here as a 12-year-old. He’s been attempting to apply for a visa. ICE knew perfectly well that he was not only here illegally but was trying to become legal. But they arrested him anyway. And that’s okay with you?
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Ever notice that pretty much the only time a rapper’s real name gets used is when he/she gets arrested?
All the fluff pieces are happy to use a street name, but now this is grown-up stuff, can’t be pretending anymore. Album sales and Twitter begging (hopefully) doesn’t skew the facts.
It would be interesting to see how he does after getting booted out, if his Atlanta-rapper cred is of any use to putting food on the table wherever he lands.
Not terribly different from other artists and actors that choose to use a different name on their day to day business. But i guess the difference between a “legitimate” pseudonym and this guy is that he’s a rapper?
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well-known Atlanta based recording artist
A lot more well-known after this arrest. This has got to end up helping his career in the end.
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He is currently imprisoned by an infamously racist and brutal agency, is separated from his three children, and is at risk of being deported to a country that is not his home.
Long-term career prospects are a rather secondary concern at the moment.
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Good to see they are taking time off from ripping children out of the arms of their families and throwing them into concentration camps to start focusing on the taking down the real criminals.
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Well that would seem to adequately set out the position.
Although I am a bit concerned by the bit that says he was “the victim of a deadly shooting in 2003”.
My language skills may not be all they should be but I think even in US English the victim of a deadly shooting might have some difficulties in filing a visa application…
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Just because you don’t know about him, doesn’t mean he’s not well known.
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The shooting was deadly because it killed someone, and wounded others. Those others are all victims in the situation, but didn’t die. So they are the surviving victims of a deadly shooting.
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