On the day it was announced that JAY-Z and Roc Nation would be hiring Alex Spiro to represent 21 Savage in his fight against deportation, Complex interviewed the decorated attorney who explained their strategy as well as all the implications surrounding the case.
“We're looking at this issue from all facets,” Spiro told Complex. “We're not going about this in one way alone. There are many decision-makers who can authorize [21’s] release, his bond, and his opportunity to handle this situation at liberty. So we're going at each and every one of them, and we're not going to stop until is out. My goal today is to get him out, my goal tomorrow is to figure out what went wrong here.”
When asked to speak more in detail about the specifics of the case, Spiro said: There's a pending visa application that should have been granted, and granted long ago. There is a misperception about his [criminal] status and his prior case. There are many individuals and entities within the chain of command in the U.S. government who have the ability to use their discretion and to release him."
From there, he confirmed that his prior conviction had been vacated and therefore should have no relevance to the case, while also noting that by law it's not mandatory for him to be deported. Spiro explained that immigration services have the right to release him, bond him, or use electronic monitoring so he can deal with this issue in a more humane way than being locked down for a reported 23 hours a day. Elsewhere, Spiro said proceedings at the moment are moving "fast," and in terms of negotiating for a bond, he said, "Give me a day."
Of course the enlisting of Spiro was all made possible by Roc Nation and JAY-Z, who previously said in a statement: “The arrest and detention of 21 Savage is an absolute travesty, his U visa petition has been pending for 4 years. In addition to being a successful recording artist, 21 deserves to be reunited with his children immediately, #Free21Savage.”
Source: complex.com
