Rapper 21 Savage was taken into custody on Feb. 3 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials for being in America illegally. He was sent to the South Georgia ICE detention center and was held there for nine days.

Although he grew up in Atlanta, he is technically a citizen from Newham, London, according to a copy of his birth certificate from a registry office. He traveled to America in July 2005 with his parents and brothers. They had a non-immigrant visa which expired 13 years ago.

“I ain’t know what a visa was,” he told Good Morning America. “I was seven when I first came here. I knew I wasn’t born here but I didn’t know what that means as far as how I transitioned into an adult.”

21 Savage, who is also known as She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, may face deportation. If this happens he could be prohibited from re-entering the country for the next decade.

Last Tuesday, Abraham-Joseph was released on bond according to a Facebook post made by his lawyers at Kuck Baxter Immigration LLC. His attorneys claim ICE originally did not consider this option.

The rapper has not been hiding his immigration status. In 2017, he applied for a visa to be a lawful permanent resident, which is still pending.

“Mr. Abraham-Joseph has never hid his immigration status from the US government,” said Charles H. Kuck, who is one of his lawyers. “The Department of Homeland Security has known his address and his history since his filing for the visa in 2017, yet they took no action against him until this past weekend.”

Alex Piro, a lawyer that rapper Jay-Z hired to help Abraham-Joseph, claims his music was the reason why he was targeted on top of him being a celebrity. He feels ICE did this as a way to “send a message”.

“They didn’t say nothing they just said ‘We got Savage,'” according to Abraham-Joseph when he got detained. “It was definitely targeted.”

When his arrest went viral he received a lot of support from fans and fellow celebrities. There was even a petition with over 500,000 signatures asking to keep him in the U.S. permanently.

Abraham-Joseph is the father of three children. He ended up missing his Grammy’s performance and his two nominations as well.

Besides this arrest, the rapper has a singular offense for marijuana, which took place in 2014 in Fulton County, Ga. It has since been settled.

He hopes his situation will shed light on others who are left in detention centers and don’t have the resources to fight for their freedom. Some of these people have not seen their families or friends in months.

21 Savage’s main priority right now is to become a U.S. citizen. His powerhouse legal team is in the middle of trying to make him a legal citizen but claim it is a very complicated process with a lot of steps to go through.