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Mos Def Arrested for Violating Immigration Laws
Jesse Tabit January 15, 2016
Yasiin Bey, also known as U.S. rap artist Mos Def, was arrested at Cape Town International Airport (CPT) Thursday for reportedly violating immigration laws.
According to Home Affairs spokesperson Mayihlome Tshwete, Bey, 42, showed authorities what he said was a “world passport” – an unrecognized document – when he tried to leave the country. Bey entered the country in 2013 and allegedly stayed longer than his visitor’s permit allowed.
Though the artist’s representative said the passport was issued by the World Service and was recognized as of August, Bey has been ordered to leave the country within 14 days.
For more information on this story, visit ABC News.
[Photo: Isaiah Trickey/Filmmagic]
Must be a slow day on FT, if this is news.
I disagree. Immigration issues are frequently a topic of conversation here, and this situation presents an interesting one. Apparently he is US-born, "moved" to South Africa a couple of years ago by entering as a tourist and overstaying, and while there, renounced his US citizenship as part of an ongoing issue he has with the US gov't policy. So, as far as I can tell, that makes him stateless. SA wants to deport him for overstaying, but there apparently is nowhere that he can be deported to. If he were in the US in a similar situation, he would find himself in federal immigration detention (which is more or less like jail, although it's civil confinement) until he could be deported or granted legal status, which could take an indefinite amount of time.
This has nothing to do with Flyer Talk.