21 Savage on Ice Arrest: I Was 'Definitely Targeted'

Rapper 21 Savage is speaking out following his release from ICE detention.

In an interview with Good Morning America that aired Friday, Feb. 15, the hip-hop star discussed everything from immigration policies to whether he believes he was targeted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Speaking with ABC News correspondent Linsey Davis, 21 Savage — real name She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph — said he was driving on the morning of Feb. 3, when seemingly out of nowhere, he was pulled over and thrown into the back of a police car.

“I was just driving and I just see guns and blue lights,” the 26-year-old performer told Davis. “And then I was in the back of a car and I was gone.”

The rapper believes he was targeted by ICE because of a comment agents made shortly after his arrest. “They just said, ‘We got Savage.’ It was definitely targeted,” he stated.

21 Savage — who came to the United States from the United Kingdom when he was seven — also addressed U.S. immigration policy. “I don’t think the policy is broken, I feel like the way they enforce the policy is broken,” he explained.

When asked whether he’s nervous about possibly being deported, the Atlanta resident didn’t hold back.

“I’ve been here …19 years, this is all I know,” he stated. “I don’t feel like you should be arrested and put in a place where a murderer would be, for just being in the country too long.”

The London-born entertainer reportedly entered the U.S. legally from Great Britain at age 7. He remained in Atlanta until 2005, when he returned to the U.K. for a brief visit. He came back to the U.S. under a valid visa and has remained stateside since then. However, federal officials say his visa expired in 2006, and he remained in Georgia.

ICE reportedly wasn’t aware of 21 Savage’s immigration status when he was convicted on felony drug charges in Fulton County, Georgia back in October 2014. The rapper’s reps say the charges were later expunged from his record. They also allege that he was targeted by ICE after rapping about family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Following his arrest on Feb. 3, the dad-of-three was held in an ICE detention facility for nearly 10 days. He has since been released on bond, and he’s free pending a deportation hearing.

You can watch 21 Savage’s full interview below.