It’s been three years since 21 Savage was detained by immigration authorities in a case that revealed the rapper to be a British citizen, a revelation that even surprised many of his fellow hip hop peers. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look as if his legal issues are going to be sorted anytime soon — according to TMZ, 21‘s attorney Charles Kuck has revealed that pending criminal charges in DeKalb County must first be wrapped up before the immigration proceedings can be finalized. Specifically, a bottle of codeine was said to have been thrown from the vehicle 21 was in, which also contained a firearm.

Back in 2019, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (or ICE) apprehended 21 Savage, Atlanta rapper Young Nudy, and two other individuals in a targeted operation. ICE spokesperson Brian Cox then explained their claims to CNN’s Nick Valencia:

“His whole public persona is false. He actually came to the U.S. from the U.K. as a teen and overstayed his visa [and] failed to depart under the terms of his nonimmigrant visa and he became unlawfully present in the U.S. when his visa expired in July 2006.”

Following his eventual release from ICE detention, 21 later spoke to the Associated Press on his upbringing and relocating to the U.S. as a child:

“When you’re a child, you don’t know what’s going on. Now, you grow up and got to figure it out. Can’t get a job. Can’t get a license. I’m one of the lucky ones who became successful. It’s a lot of people who can’t.”

He also gave his take on whether or not he should be able to become an American citizen given his circumstances:

“When you ain’t got no choice, you should be exempt. 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.”