The rapper took to ABC's Good Morning America to recount the moment when ICE detained him in Atlanta.
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"I was just driving and I just seen guns and blue lights. And, then, I was in the back of a car, and I was gone," Savage said. "They didn't say nothing. They just said, 'We got Savage.'"
\u201cTHIS MORNING: AN @ABC EXCLUSIVE: @21savage, who was arrested and detained by ICE, speaks out to @LinseyDavis after his release and says he was "definitely targeted": "They just said, 'We got Savage.'" https://t.co/UylOGGD1Pg\u201d
— Good Morning America (@Good Morning America) 1550228401
"It was definitely targeted," he added.
Prior to the arrest, Savage had rapped about immigration during his performance of "a lot" on Fallon, saying: "Been through some things so I can’t imagine my kids stuck at the border."
"Do you feel like you were targeted as a result of that, basically being critical of the immigration system here?" Good Morning America host Linsey Davis asked Savage.
\u201c.@21Savage's lawyers believe this arrest had to do with a music video he released for his song "A Lot" that criticizes immigration policies on the border. https://t.co/8XGtNj5gS2\u201d
— Good Morning America (@Good Morning America) 1550234637
"My lawyers think that," the rapper replied before adding his own opinion. "I don't really know. I can't really say. I would see why people would think that, but I really can't say."
When asked if he was aware of his immigration status, Savage said: "I didn’t even know what a visa was. I was seven when I came here. I knew I wasn’t born here but I didn’t know what that meant as far as transitioning into an adult."
Although Savage was released on a $100,000 bond on Tuesday, he still faces deportation, something he is concerned about but isn't trying to let bring him down.
"I feel like I done been through so much in my life, like, I learned to embrace the times when I’m down 'cause they always build me up and take me to a new level in life," he said.
Both Savage's attorney Dina LaPolt and Alex Spiro, the attorney hired by Jay-Z and Roc Nation, believe the rapper was target as well.
"...part of the reason, we think, is both because he’s a celebrity, and they can use this as a way to send a message, and also, perhaps, because of his music," Spiro said.