21 Savage received an award from the National Immigration Law Center.
Perhaps one the most shocking headlines the year has been 21 Savage’s ICE arrest during Super Bowl weekend. Although the jokes flooded because he was born in the U.K., 21 Savage‘s story shed light on a bigger topic at hand with immigration in America, especially under the Trump administration. He’s gone on to use his voice to fight for the rights undocumented immigrants, even donating money so detained immigrants can get lawyers.
Last night, the rapper was presented the Courageous Luminary award from the National Immigration Law Center. He spoke to the Associated Press just moments before accepting the award, advocating for the rights undocumented immigrants, particularly children.
“When you’re a child, you don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “Now, you grow up and got to figure it out. Can’t get a job. Can’t get a license. I’m one the lucky ones who became successful. It’s a lot people who can’t.”
He continued to explain that kids come to America with their parents but they don’t even know everything involved with moving. He revealed that when he was a kid, he simply thought he was moving to a new country without a single bit knowledge what a visa was.
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“When you ain’t got no choice, you should be exempt,” he explained. “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”
He added, “I feel like we should be exempt. I feel like we should automatically become citizens.”